The corporate TikTok star has turned her daily chats with her “work girlfriend” into a series of viral videos on how to give “professional” meaning to things people want to say to their co-workers but can’t.
Laura Whaley, 27, from Toronto, Ontario, has earned over 1.3 million followers on the platform since she started posting content in early 2020 while working from home as an IT consultant.
TikToker, better known as @loewhaley, videotaped her remote conversations with her fellow corporate communications expert – and they have since evolved into her popular “How do you speak professionally?” row.
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Laura Whaley, 27, from Toronto, Ontario, has earned over 1.3 million followers on TikTok since she started posting corporate content in early 2020.
The information technology consultant, better known as @loewhaley, was filming her conversations with her “work mate” who is an expert in corporate communications.
In the videos, she tells her work buddy what she wants to say, and he translates them into corporate jargon that gets the point across without coming across as rude or unprofessional.
“How do you professionally say, ‘This sounds like your problem?’ asks Whaley in one of the clips filmed earlier this month, which has been viewed more than 27.8 million times.
“I believe that this is part of your responsibilities, but I am happy to support you where it makes sense,” he replies.
If you want to ask why you weren’t given something sooner, he suggests saying, “Given the difficult turnaround, it would have been helpful to have dealt with this sooner.”
The videos turned into her popular “How do you speak professionally?” series in which he translates what she wants to say into corporate jargon
And for those who won’t stop emailing, he advises using this response: “To keep information from getting lost, let’s reduce the frequency of messaging so that updates are provided only after additional details are installed.”
Communication in the workplace can be challenging, and it’s easy to feel used or overwhelmed if you’re unable to stand up for yourself, and that’s where colleague Whaley comes in.
In another clip, he proves that there is a professional way to say everything, including “I told you so” and “You’re not my boss.”
For example, if you want to claim that you were right about something, just say, “According to my prediction, this result will not come as a surprise.”
Whaley tells her work buddy what she wants to say and suggests how to respond to get the point across without coming across as rude or unprofessional.
Whaley’s colleague taught her how to say almost everything professionally, including “You’re not my boss.”
![He advises to say: “I can look at this, putting it above my duties. However, I can't fix the timeline as my workload is dictated by [insert name]'](https://www.spamchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/1647964797_904_The-professional-way-to-tell-your-colleagues-what-you-really.jpg "The \"professional\" way to tell your colleagues what you really think 11")
![He advises to say: “I can look at this, putting it above my duties. However, I can't fix the timeline as my workload is dictated by [insert name]'](https://www.spamchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/1647964797_361_The-professional-way-to-tell-your-colleagues-what-you-really.jpg "The \"professional\" way to tell your colleagues what you really think 12")
He advises to say: “I can look at this, putting it above my duties. However, I can’t fix the timeline as my workload is dictated by [insert name]’
If someone gives you a job without authority, Whaley’s best friend says you can remind the person that you have another boss.
He advises to say: “I can look at this, putting it above my duties. However, I can’t fix the timeline as my workload is dictated by [insert name].’
Whaley and her colleague have a great rapport, and she can’t help teasing him a little with her signatures, which he repeatedly warned her never to use.
She jokingly told him that she was thinking about changing her email signature to “wet” and the two have joked around ever since.
“Yours is wet,” she tells him at the end of the clip, prompting him to yell “why!”
In one recent video, Whaley asks him how to tell someone to “stay in your lane.”
She also wants to know how to professionally say, “I’ve told you this several times.”
Her work best suggests saying, “There seems to be a gap here, since this information has already been provided.”
In one recent video, Whaley asks him how to tell someone to “stay in your lane.”
Thanks for your input. I will keep this in mind when I make decisions that are within my area of responsibility,” he replies.
And instead of yelling, “I’ve told you this several times,” he explains that you can try saying, “There seems to be a gap here, since this information has already been provided.”
In Whaley’s latest issue of How Do You Speak Professionally? video, she and her friend at work deal with another round of related problems in the workplace.
How to professionally say: “I’m not doing your job for you?” she asks at the beginning of the video.
For those who won’t stop emailing you, he advises saying, “To keep information from getting lost, let’s reduce the frequency of communication so that updates are provided only after additional details are installed.”
Whaley and her colleague also decided how not to stay late at work.
He says that you must specify that your working day ends at 5:00 pm, but you “would be happy to do that first thing tomorrow.”
“I don’t have the ability to take on this in addition to my workload, but I’m happy to help where it makes sense,” he replies.
If a problem comes up at the end of the day and you want to make it clear that you’re not “staying up late to sort this out,” he suggests saying, “My work day ends at 5, but I’d love to get it done first.” business tomorrow.
As for the colleague who won’t stop copying everyone? Whaley’s friend spoke about this as well, explaining, “In order to streamline communication, perhaps we can target these emails to a more targeted group.”
Whaley’s corporate TikTok series originated from earlier videos in which she asked her friend a variety of questions, including tips for responding to emails.
Whaley “How do you sound professional? the series originated from earlier videos in which she asked her friend various questions, including tips for answering emails.
Whaley began labeling the video “Moments from today’s conversation with my friend at work” before changing the title.
She started labeling the clips “Moments from a chat with my best friend today” and then changed the title to “How do you sound professional?”
TikToker asked followers if they would like the series to be a sequel, and the answer seems to be yes.
“You two should make an English-corporate dictionary,” one fan commented on her latest video, while another added, “I’d buy a coffee table with books on all of this IMMEDIATELY.”
Others shared things they would like to translate, including: “How do you professionally say, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about?’
There are also many fans who want to see Whaley’s mysterious colleague in person.
“We need to show better work,” one person commented.