10 Popular Phrases You Must Immediately Delete From Your Writing
Posted Monday, December 7, 2009 · Comments
I eagerly downloaded and printed a 30-page Special Report from a well-known blogger. Highlighter pen in hand, I began reading, expecting to find many nuggets. I did do a lot of underlining, but not the things the author hoped I’d highlight.
Instead, I marked 10 words and phrases the author used repeatedly. Here they are, followed by my translation of each:
1. Leverage (used as a verb) – Make something work to your advantage so you can earn more money.
2. Incentivize – Entice people to buy something.
3. Merchandize (used as a verb) – Sell something.
4. Monetize – Make money.
5. Generate leads – Find people willing to give you their money.
6. Revenue streams – Make money multiple ways.
7. Repurpose – Recycle something you’ve already developed and sell it to a different audience (see revenue streams)
8. Exploit – Use to your fullest advantage.
9. Thought leader – Charismatic personality who isn’t afraid to talk about his/her creative ideas in public.
10. Entrepreneurial opportunity – Creative way to make money.
Thirty pages of drivel can be summed up in 91 words:
Come up with one great idea that people want. Sell it. (If people don’t know they want it, convince them they do.)
When you become successful (i.e., wealthy and famous), recycle a variation of your original idea and sell it to others who don’t realize they want it. When you become really successful, hire others to do the drudge work for you so you can continue inventing new stuff and convincing people they can’t live without it.
Want to learn how to do this? Sign up for my expensive online course.
Thirty pages of marketing industry jargon, from a writer who constantly preaches, “Write powerfully. Use strong verbs. Use strong nouns.”
It’s easy to fall into the jargon trap, isn’t it? Every profession has its own jargon – words, phrases, and acronyms that roll off the tongue and onto the page before we think twice – terminology that sounds like a foreign language to people outside our industry.
The phrases I highlighted in the report are also euphemisms – words that substitute for concrete, descriptive words. Monetize sounds flashier and more impressive than make money.
But make money is the author’s sole goal in writing and distributing this report. Why is he afraid to tell us that? Everyone who downloads a special report knows it’ll contain a sales pitch. But we also expect to get value from the report itself – an inspiring thought or a practical idea.
When we use jargon and euphemisms to disguise the true purpose of our communication, we dilute its effectiveness.
Let’s challenge each other to eliminate industry jargon from our writing and speech:
- Make a list of 10 words and phrases specific to your niche that could be construed as jargon or euphemisms.
- Share your favorites (or least favorites) with us.
- Vow to become aware of how those words slip effortlessly into your vocabulary.
- Every time you notice jargon, axe it from your blog post, e-zine, special report, book chapter, or speech.
Tell it like it is. Simple. Plain. Unadulterated.
…and yes, you have my permission to point out when I’m using jargon!
Note: I’m participating in the Group Writing Project: 2009 in Review on DailyBlogTips.
27 Comments
December 8th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Twitter: Jeff_Bailey
Great list. I especially dislike “thought leader” and am happy to see that you included it. The phrase that really makes my skin crawl is:
“value proposition”
It even hurts to type that.
December 8th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Twitter: bloggingbistro
“Value proposition” — Jeff, I’m glad to see you’re getting into the spirit of things here!
Am trying to figure out what that means out of context — probably the same as most of the ones I shared – “an idea or product someone in my company comes up with that’s going to ultimately make us more money.”
Am I close?
December 8th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Twitter: bloggingbistro
From Twitter follower @DaronFraley:
Here is a fun one from TV commercials: REDUCES the APPEARANCE of wrinkles. Subjective, meaningless, duck-speak.
December 8th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Interface. I think it’s supposed to mean talk to, so why don’t they just say that?
December 9th, 2009 at 12:48 am
Twitter: bloggingbistro
Juli,
I saw “interface” tonite on a marketing blog and nearly gagged.
You have permission to T.P. my house if I EVER use that word in place of “let’s talk.”
December 9th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Laura,
Permission given to you as well if you ever hear/read me using it. The word does sometimes fall out of my mouth, and I always wish I could stuff it back in.
December 14th, 2009 at 3:48 am
[...] 10 Popular Phrases You Must Immediately Delete From Your Writing: I eagerly downloaded and printed a 30-page Special Report from a well-known blogger. Highlighter pen in hand, I began reading, expecting to find many nuggets. I did do a lot of underlining, but not the things the author hoped I’d highlight. (by Laura Christianson) [...]
December 14th, 2009 at 4:42 am
[...] 10 Popular Phrases You Must Immediately Delete From Your Writing: I eagerly downloaded and printed a 30-page Special Report from a well-known blogger. Highlighter pen in hand, I began reading, expecting to find many nuggets. I did do a lot of underlining, but not the things the author hoped I’d highlight. (by Laura Christianson) [...]
December 14th, 2009 at 5:05 am
[...] 10 Popular Phrases You Must Immediately Delete From Your Writing: I eagerly downloaded and printed a 30-page Special Report from a well-known blogger. Highlighter pen in hand, I began reading, expecting to find many nuggets. I did do a lot of underlining, but not the things the author hoped I’d highlight. (by Laura Christianson) [...]
December 14th, 2009 at 6:16 am
[...] 10 Popular Phrases You Must Immediately Delete From Your Writing: I eagerly downloaded and printed a 30-page Special Report from a well-known blogger. Highlighter pen in hand, I began reading, expecting to find many nuggets. I did do a lot of underlining, but not the things the author hoped I’d highlight. (by Laura Christianson) [...]
December 14th, 2009 at 6:23 am
[...] 10 Popular Phrases You Must Immediately Delete From Your Writing: I eagerly downloaded and printed a 30-page Special Report from a well-known blogger. Highlighter pen in hand, I began reading, expecting to find many nuggets. I did do a lot of underlining, but not the things the author hoped I’d highlight. (by Laura Christianson) [...]
December 14th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Twitter: bluepop13
What you’ve said here is to true. If you’re going to explain to someone about how they can make money with their blog then just say it. Don’t be afraid to tell it how it is. Make it short, simple, to the point, and don’t beat around the bush, period. I like that and unfortunately a lot of sites/blogs all say the same thing using the same jargon trying to convince people that they need what that site has to offer.
That to me is just a complete waste of time. Learn from the best and say how you mean it.
December 14th, 2009 at 8:49 am
[...] 10 Popular Phrases You Must Immediately Delete From Your Writing: I eagerly downloaded and printed a 30-page Special Report from a well-known blogger. Highlighter pen in hand, I began reading, expecting to find many nuggets. I did do a lot of underlining, but not the things the author hoped I’d highlight. (by Laura Christianson) [...]
December 14th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Twitter: geoffhoff
Hi, Laura,
I came across your blog in the post on Connie Green’s group project. As a writer of fiction, I always strive to avoid cliche phrases and (to use a cliche) turns of phrase. When I notice one on my page (they sneak in, they’re insidious little buggers) I try to reword them in a new and original way.
Now for marketing. There are two phrases (I know you are focusing on words. I still want to play!) two marketing phrases that drive me insane:
1. “There’s nothing like it” – if there’s nothing like it, it doesn’t exist. Do they mean, “There’s nothing ELSE like it”?
2. “Think outside the box” – I know what this refers to – it’s an old mind game where you have a box and several dots and you have to connect all the dots without crossing your own lines. The only way to accomplish it is to “think outside the box”. Most people who say this tired phrase, however, usually mean, “Think like I do” which isn’t outside the box at all.
One more thing. A word that I can’t sand is “proactive”. I had a boss who said that all the time. “Are you being proactive?” What the hell does that mean?
In any case, thanks of allowing me the opportunity to rant and rave a bit. Good post. All marketers should be forced to read it.
Geoff
December 14th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Twitter: bloggingbistro
Geoff,
I am laughing out loud! (oops, LOL is another one of those overused phrases). I am guilty of using “think outside the box” more often than I care to admit. And “proactive.” Ouch. You got me.
Here’s another one I just read on someone’s blog: “user generated content.” Doesn’t that mean: “I wrote it”?
I am so glad I wrote this post, because it has made me more aware of the words that slip into my writing. I wrote two articles this morning, and as I edited them, I kept asking myself, “Did I use ‘leverage’? Did I turn any nouns or adverbs into verbs? Did I slip in words that make me sound self-important?”
I recommend this exercise to anyone who uses words on a regular basis (that’s most of us, I suspect). Use your own list as a checklist for words/phrases to edit out of your blog posts.
December 14th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Twitter: bloggingbistro
Another phrase that’s driving me nuts: economic downturn.
Can we just call it a recession already?
December 14th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Twitter: geoffhoff
Just so you know, I leveraged your user generated content to think outside the box, and now I’m being proactive as I interface with my customer base as I to repurpose my entrepreneurial opportunity in order to exploit thought leaders’ monetizing strategies.
Wow. I think I just hurt myself.
December 14th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Twitter: geoffhoff
Oops. Didn’t edit well. The second “as I” shouldn’t be there. Sigh.
December 14th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Twitter: bloggingbistro
Geoff,
Now I am not only laughing out loud, I am rolling on the floor as I laugh out loud (ROTF LOL). Okay, maybe not rolling on the floor, but I’m rolling my office chair around the floor.
You are good! When can I hire you?
December 14th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Twitter: geoffhoff
I’m available work days, most weekends and some evenings. Have keyboard. Will travel.
Seriously, though, I know you were probably joking but if not, I am available.
December 14th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Yesterday I put up my ladder, climbed to the top storage shelf and unpacked the Christmas decorations. Upon completion, I cheerfully told my wife,”I’m done ‘downloading’ the Christmas ornaments.”
December 16th, 2009 at 10:04 am
[...] so it’s hard to avoid them. As I said in a comment on Laura Christianson’s Blogging Bistro blog, they are insidious, sneaky little buggers, and creep in to your writing without any [...]
December 16th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Twitter: myaggie2
Because of the group blogging project I discovered this great site. I just subscribed. Thankx
December 16th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
[...] 10 Popular Phrases You Must Immediately Delete From Your Writing, by Laura Christianson. I eagerly downloaded and printed a 30-page Special Report from a well-known blogger. Highlighter pen in hand, I began reading, expecting to find many nuggets. I did do a lot of underlining, but not the things the author hoped I’d highlight… [...]
December 28th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Twitter: geoffhoff
Found an article you would cleave to your heart: http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/speak-no-evil-the-decades-worst-new-business-terms/19285560/
Notice, also, the song mentioned at the end of it.
Geoff
Geoff´s last blog ..Post 21 – Daydream Yourself into Your Work
December 28th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Twitter: bloggingbistro
Geoff,
This was a fun article (it has me squirming); thanks for sharing the link – http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/speak-no-evil-the-decades-worst-new-business-terms/19285560/
Laura Christianson´s last blog ..Web Site Makeover: Freedomtrain Ministries
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:27 am
Group Writing Project: 90 Reviews of 2009…
All right guys, we finally have the final list of entries for the “2009 in Review” group writing project. we had 90 participants in all sorts of niches, and it was interesting to compile the list of entries. I am sure you will have fun reading them as …