Are these putrid PR buzzwords polluting your pitches?
Hyperbole might be a necessary evil in public relations and marketing, but you can at least be original. Discard these worn-out clichés in favor of fresher descriptors.
By Dorothy Crenshaw | Posted: November 28, 2018
As a Zillow enthusiast, I appreciate real estate euphemisms. PR buzzwords
are another story.
We’ve all seen flowery descriptions describing homes for sale as “cozy”
(read: tiny); with a “low-maintenance yard” (probably concrete); or
“partial water view” (maybe a dried stream bed). A recent tweet about a
“Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired cabin”
made me think about the jargon that clutters press releases and business
memos in our own business.
As for public relations, far too many tired, empty words are used in news
announcements and other content prepared by agencies or their clients. In
some cases it’s understandable, perhaps even necessary. When it comes to
business software, customers might expect to hear about “end-to-end
solutions” or a “suite of scaleable offerings.”
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Advertising Week wrapped up recently in New York and, with it, a festival
of jargon. In the adtech sector, buzzwords like “monetization” and
“engagement” are unavoidable, and terms such as “transparency” and
“visibility” have special meaning. (Even worse are the acronyms. If you
don’t know what GDPR is and why it’s
important to a
DMP
, then you’re lost.)
Even allowing for vocabulary specific to certain sectors, PR-speak can be
uninspired and clogged with meaningless descriptors.
There are three main categories of bad PR-speak (with some overlaps):
hyperbole, buzzwords and hopeless clichés. These are the worst of the
worst:
-
Leading. This one’s everywhere, usually in the first line of a press
release or company boilerplate. It implies leadership status without
making a claim that could be disputed or corroborated. The same goes
for weasel words market-leading and leading-edge.
Without information that supports the claim, they have no power. Those
still aren’t as bad as bleeding edge,which I first heard in
1996 and never want to hear again.
-
Excited. My pet peeve is the news release about a partnership or deal
where the company spokesperson is quoted as being thrilled,delighted or excited about the transaction.
Though these descriptors might be accurate, they add nothing to the
story—and no journalist will use them. Why not explain how the
partnership will advance business goals? You might even skip the quote
and post a real executive comment on social media.
-
Groundbreaking. Another bit of hyperbole that has lost all meaning.
-
Curated. This is an unnecessarily pretentious version of a simpler
term. Why call something curated if it’s clearer to say it’scarefully chosen or hand-picked? The same goes forbespoke and many nouns used as verbs, such as mainstreaming and (the worst) architecting, as in
“architecting a new plan.” Ugh.
-
Lean in. With due respect to Sheryl Sandberg, this term has been
appropriated by so many different entities and in so many situations
that the original meaning has evaporated, and now it’s cliché.
-
Incredibly. Hyperbolic and meaningless.
-
Leverage (as a verb). I’m reconciled to seeing this world peppering PR
proposals, but it should never appear in a press release.
-
Game-changing. If a product has truly changed the game, then explain
how. Otherwise, discard this empty hyperbole.
For more PR buzzwords that deserve to be busted, check out PRbuzzsaw. You can try its “automated
jargon removal tool” to assess your press release or just have a laugh. If
you’re still in need of inspiration, I have a charming, bespoke cottage
with lots of character that you might want to check out.
Dorothy Crenshaw
is CEO of Crenshaw Communications. A version of this post first
appeared on the
ImPRessions blog
.