Have you had to read something twice because it really didn’t make sense? Or struggled with sets of instructions to assemble your newest coolest toy? Or been stymied by jargon, legal or technical terms?
How we write matters, our choice of words matter.
I’ve been writing about business cliches this year, there is certainly plenty of material.
I came across a manifesto from Change This on this subject, called the Gobbledygook Manifesto it sets out to encourage marketers and PR writers to write well, and to write with the customer in mind.
Gobbledygook is an English term used to describe nonsensical language, in the manifesto its the language of press releases that comes under scrutiny. Some of the most common terms found are “next generation”, “ground breaking” and “cutting edge”. Clearly not everything can be all of those things.
The Gobbledygook Manifesto is not new, but the lessons still stand. Think of your buyer not your product, keep it simple, and integrate your written marketing materials with your marketing programme.
Image words via pixabay
Change Meme 