Why are Businesspeople So Scared of Simple Language?
I include two ‘revision rounds’ in all my copywriting projects. That way if a client wants to change something, they can see how it looks before deciding to keep it.
Somewhere around three-quarters of my requested revisions in the past few years were all the same thing. Trading everyday, honest language for a jargon-choked, Corporate-Speak equivalent.
For instance.
MY COPY: Service X uses a unique “credit system” - buy credits for 1-3 cents each. Use one credit per issue (like a stamp). No monthly fees or contracts.
THEIR REVISION: Service X utilizes a proprietary credit-based system, providing the ability to rollout deliverables as a proactive solution at 33-99 per dollar.
I’m a Web writer. My job is to help people with their message. I can’t do that when the message they want confuses the *!#^@ out of their audience.
Which leads me to the title question. Why are businesspeople so scared of using everyday language to sell their products?
I can think of a few possible reasons why they do this. None of which fill me with hope.
1. They’re afraid of standing out. Maybe it’s a holdover from the schoolyard - the kid who stands out gets teased, picked last, and/or ignored. I like being “invisible in the crowd” sometimes too, but in business that just means your clients walk right by!
2. They think corporate-speak is “what people expect to read.” Sure, we may expect it. Doesn’t mean we like it!
3. They’re afraid of getting sued. Sometime in recent history, someone linked the idea of speaking plainly in business to lawsuits from disgruntled customers. Whatever the reason, many corporations started using Corporate-Speak as a sort of shield against liability. If nobody understands what you’re saying, it’s easy to pass the buck. And duck the subpoena.
4. And the deepest, most gripping reason? I think they see how the Web has changed everything. The old walls of business are crumbling. Two people in Texas can now overtake a New York conglomerate online.
So businesspeople hunker down into the patterns they know. Sticking with the language that (they thought) worked in the past.
Or worse, they don’t care about how they communicate at all. They’re big and they’ve got the market–that’s all that matters, right? Who cares about actually understanding the customer, so long as he pays the bill?
Even giants fall. The Corporate-Speak trend WILL have to end eventually. Companies who persist in using it two, three, five years from now? They’re hammering against a whole new consensus. And they’ll suffer for it.
(I’m speaking as a writer AND a consumer here.)
What’s the consensus? We want to know about what we’re being sold. We’re talking about things among ourselves.
And most importantly, we don’t have to continue to do business with you if you treat us like a number.
Have a look at some good writing. I didn’t write any of this copy. Whoever it was did a great job though. I have no trouble finding out what I need to on these sites:
www.webposition.com
http://www.meebo.com/products/
http://twiki.org/
(Disclaimer: I work with a company who uses WebPosition 4 Pro. However, I wasn’t the one who recommended its use.)
Think about the language you use. Realize it does affect your customers. And your company. Which would you rather have: a website full of copy that confuses your audience? Or persuades them?
, Zipped by 