AS I ALWAYS SAY whether I’m talking with my kids or a client, don’t use a big word when a diminutive one will suffice.
I just came across this (very real) description for a company online:
Leveraging synergies to set the underpinning architecture to the overarching policy structure that governs processes to ensure that a global solution is provided to meet the increasingly demanding needs of the system in a world where change is the only constant.
Can you tell from this description what the company does?? Me neither… And it doesn’t help that the company name is an acronym.
I call this corporate gobbledygook, likely created by a large committee. It’s a waste of space. They’re trying to sound ‘highbrow’…but this emperor has no cloths.
Say What You Mean
In the over-communicated world that we live in your small business clients and prospects don’t have the time to figure out what you’re trying to say. Say what you mean and get on with it!
As small business owners the temptation is always there to want to make ourselves seem bigger than we are…however trying to sound like an over bloated corporation, speaking ‘corporate speak’ will do more damage to your growing small business than good.
Honesty Sells
As John Jantsch, author of The Referral Engine
When was the last time you looked at your company mission statement? Can you bring it down into “real words”?
Bottom Line: Don’t bedazzle your message with big multi-syllabic words or sentence structures that you need a map to navigate, it will only work against you. Keep it simple. Keep it direct. But most of all keep it real.
