Is your copy generic and annoying?
August 16, 2010 at 7:24 am 1 comment
Adam Sherk recently created a list of The Most Overused Buzzwords and Marketing Speak in Press Releases. If your writing is overridden with words on this list, then yes, it is generic to the point of annoying all who read it. Here are the top 20 words to avoid:
To see words like best, top, leading and unique in the top 5, I am having a flash to that scene from Fight Club when Tyler Durden makes the speech that goes, “…You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake…” Clearly most PR people don’t buy into the whole Project Mayhem ideology.
Totally unnecessary Fight Club photo, but you know you still enjoyed it
To see the rest of the list of overused words, learn his method and read the suggestions of more irksome verbiage in the comment section, check out Adam’s post. Which words do you see in press releases and marketing copy far too often? Which ones are you guilty of using?
For more ideas on avoiding jargon and marketing speak, check out my post about how to “un-suck” these horrible words and phrases.
Entry filed under: Public Relations. Tags: annoying, buzz words, cliche, fight club, generic, jargon, language, overused, pr, press release, Public Relations, useful, wordsmith.
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