An excerpt from Jason’s latest column in Inc. Magazine: “Why Is Business Writing so Awful?”
When you write like everyone else and sound like everyone else and act like everyone else, you’re saying, “Our products are like everyone else’s, too.” Or think of it this way: Would you go to a dinner party and just repeat what the person to the right of you is saying all night long? Would that be interesting to anybody? So why are so many businesses saying the same things at the biggest party on the planet—the marketplace?...
Unfortunately, years of language dilution by lawyers, marketers, executives, and HR departments have turned the powerful, descriptive sentence into an empty vessel optimized for buzzwords, jargon, and vapid expressions. Words are treated as filler—“stuff” that takes up space on a page. Words expand to occupy blank space in a business much as spray foam insulation fills up cracks in your house. Harsh? Maybe. True? Read around a bit, and I think you’ll agree.
Sayam Khan
on 06 May 10That was a good article, Jason. Thanks for pointing this cliche writing trend. I passed it around.
Yours is the first article I read in Inc now.
Amber Shah
on 06 May 10It’s a great read, but I think that the crux of the issue is insecurity. Looking at the big-time businesspeople, it’s easy to think they have it all under control and know what they’re doing. As I move up in my career (and adulthood, in general) I realize that we’re all just winging it as best we can. So people think that if they write like the big boys then people will believe that they also have it together and know what they’re doing. For a lot of people/businesses, they have such an inferiority complex, that they would actually like to be just like all the other products out there, even though that’s not what’s best for business.
On the other hand, it’s not so bad for the rest of us – is it? Nachos taste even better when compared to rice cakes.
Paul S
on 06 May 10It’s all so true. Looking at myself I don’t read a lot of company pages. I only read articles on blogs and media websites.
It’s time to rewrite some of our own pages written by a writer. But it’s a lot of big words and no personality. Time to bring in some of that stuff starting with the “About us” page. Which for some reason is called “Organization”, someone wants to sound big? No idea how that got past me…
Noam
on 06 May 10Great article from Jason as usual!
I think more and more companies, especially small businesses, understand that language can be used in a better way than mere filler bloated with ‘hot’ words. Especially web based businesses. So much so that sometimes even “real” language sounds banal.
I guess if your company’s offering is unique – your language should reflect that uniqueness and be original as well.
In fact that could be a great way to check if your business (or business idea if it’s still just an idea) is solid. Just read what you write about it – if it sounds banal, there’s a good chance you should consider adjusting the business concept altogether.
Thanks for sharing!
JP Richardson
on 06 May 10I loved this article! Amber has a great point. Business want to sound big. Unfortunately, while trying to sound big… they sound impersonal and boring. People want to relate with people, so businesses should add personal touch to their writing.
-JP
Markus
on 06 May 10There are a few smart customers and a lot of dumb customers. You can’t get around dumb customers. Dumb customers are afraid of what they don’t know. They get suspicious if they don’t read the same generic formulas that they read at all the other “successful” businesses. As a result, writing generic (as well as copying) works. It is cheap success, but it works for many half ass (but still successful) businesses.
By the way, writing good and creatively is freakin hard.
Jackson
on 06 May 10@37signals
No disrespect, because I truly love this blog but what I’ve noticed is that …
Jason does a great job at writing blog post, which are short in nature. But he doesn’t perform well at writing long articles, like those found in Inc Magazine.
Joel Spolsky, who use to be an Inc Magazine contributor, did an amazing job at writing long articles for Inc.
Jim
on 06 May 10Great point. Business writing’s main purpose isn’t to communicate, it is not to offend ANYBODY at all, and getting a message across is an afterthought. Look at almost any corpo website and this is what you will see.
It is why I have such a strong respect for companies that are real. Check out the Jobs page at Dogfish Head. Being real will always attract the right kind of employees and loyal, passionate customers.
Fazal Majid
on 06 May 10A big part of the problem is tha corporate world is attractive to the mediocre, just like other bureaucracies over the centuries.
That said, I asked one of my friends, a Harvard MBA, why he insisted on using the turgid phrases Jason skewers in his piece, and he said it was to make his articles “exciting” (sic) for marketers (his audience). There must be a large group of mentally stunted individuals who get off on corporate babble, just as others did on Marxist dialectic in another age.
Jimmy Chan
on 06 May 10I think people don’t really “read”. They search, learn a moment, ask, and then decide. They’ll skip many our buzzwords, jargon, etc many times.
Owen
on 07 May 10I’m going to be blunt. Jason ain’t all that either. I noticed in the comments a few slaps at ‘writers’ as well. Guess what – those pieces weren’t written by writers – they were written by ‘marketing communications’ people or ‘communications consultants.’ Writers write – and it is hard – and very, very few of them work at companies.
Smart companies hire good writers to write their web pages and materials etc. Unfortunately they then make the mistake of allowing the marketing and legal departments to change what was written. At very least take whatever changes they are insisting on and let the writer try to fix them up again.
To be fair, Jason is excellent for a non-writer. But you can still see how he could say the same thing in 60% of the space just as punchily and using the same language and style.
allen
on 08 May 10The underlying problem with poor writing is poor content. Without something worth saying, and without saying it honestly, you will only get awkward garbage.
We achieve awkward garbage with passive voice, usually to remove blame and intensity. Passive voice does this, but at the cost of readability and meaning.
“Bob doesn’t do his job” vs. “We encourage management to continue with their efforts to formally document a procedure for…[insert Bob’s job]”
Erika Hall
on 12 May 10Thank you for writing this. Everyone who uses words in a professional context is a professional writer, so no one should get a pass on caring and working to improve themselves and their organization.
Amber is absolutely correct about the insecurity. Whenever a person chooses an unnecessary obscure word or piece of meaningless jargon, insecurity of some sort is at the base of it.
Also, I recommend George Orwell. His essay Politics and the English Language is an excellent primer for avoiding stale weasel language.
This discussion is closed.