Long, careful writing about how we talk to each other.
Senior Writer
Tomás Okafor
Chicago, IL · Covers Workplace speech, negotiation, and money
Tomás Okafor writes about work, pay, and the language of institutions. Before joining Utterby in 2021 he covered labor and small business for a Midwest business weekly. He has a long-running interest in what people actually mean when they say they are "circling back." He keeps a notebook of overheard meeting phrases that now runs to four volumes.
Advice about salary negotiation tends to stay vague at the moment it matters. We collected the exact words that worked, and the ones that quietly failed.
Declining a request well is a skill most of us never learn. A reported look at the people who have made a craft of it, and what their refusals have in common.
Utterby is funded by readers, not advertisers. We use a few essential cookies to remember your free-story count and sign-in, and — only if you agree — privacy-friendly analytics to learn which stories are read to the end.
Sunday mornings
The Sunday Utterby
One essay, three good sentences we found during the week, and a short note from the editor, delivered before the coffee is cold. It runs about 900 words and is meant to be read slowly, ideally out loud to someone at the table.