Ad And Brochure Writing - Your Mother Was Right

By Author: Bobby Patterson
Total Articles: 40
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Your mother probably told you not to use bad words, and I'm here to echo her advice. But I'm not referring to expletives that earned you a mouthful of soap. I'm talking about the strange language and poor word choices of today's corporate world. Typically, it's the result of trying to impress rather than communicate.
In today's information-overloaded world, the best way to break through is with clear, accurate communication - and a good start is to stop making common misuses of words. You say everyone else does it? Did that excuse work with your mother?
Utilize use. With three letters, "use" doesn't impress people. But "utilize" doesn't really mean the same thing. It's at its most correct when describing something serving the function of something else. Use a hammer to pound nails, but utilize a screwdriver to do the same thing when the hammer isn't handy.
Left wanting. "Want" is another word that's just too folksy for many folks. So they endeavor or desire. While those words may be technically correct, they're not as precise - and trying to become even more impressive by using variants like "desirous" is ...
... just laughable.
At nauseam. A handy preposition, "at" becomes an odd-sounding crutch in copy: "At Acme Widgets, we're dedicated to quality and committed to service." Why not say "Acme Widgets is dedicated to quality and committed to service" or the even-friendlier "we're dedicated to quality and committed to service"?
It's appropriate. "Once we review the information, we'll take appropriate action" is no stronger than "once we review the information, we'll take action." Unless there's a burning need to distinguish your course of action from an inappropriate one, don't use it.
Hardly unique. Since this powerful word means "one of a kind," why do we see so much literature describing products as "very unique" or "most unique?" Hedging, that's why. If your product or service is indeed unique, use the word. Otherwise, skip it.
Poor quality. Quality is a noun that represents something's essential character or the degree of its excellence. It isn't an adjective meaning "very good." A Rolls-Royce displays a distinctive quality of workmanship, but you shouldn't refer to it as a "quality motorcar." Your widget may have high quality, but that doesn't make it a "quality product."
Stop verbing. A similar problem appears in the utilization of perfectly good nouns as horrible verbs. "She and I will conference on Thursday." Why pass up "confer" or "talk?" Ditto for "interface."
Fashionably flawed. Avoid fashionable word choices. Just because your competitors "partner" with their suppliers doesn't mean you can't work with yours. Save "robust" for strong coffee, not software. And leave "world-class" to Olympic gymnasts.
After all, sending a memo that reads "the brewed beverage receptacle continues to demonstrate a skew indicative of nonpossession of the essential contents" isn't going to impress anyone you really need to impress. Won't shame them into making more coffee, either.

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