If ever there was encouragement to stay away from the overused word “unique” (not to mention “very unique”), here it is. At least 48,095 news releases used it in 2008.
David Meerman Scott‘s analysis of 711,123 press releases distributed by North American companies last year displayed in alarming numbers just how “unique,” “world class,” “flexible” and “robust” the “new and improved” products were that these companies were “pleased to” announce. One of my real pet peeves, “leverage,” also made the top 10 list.
In Guy Kawasaki‘s book, Reality Check, he suggests taking the opposite test. “See if your competition uses the antonyms of the adjectives that you use. If it doesn’t, your description is useless.” So there’s no point in claiming scalable, secure, fast and easy to use if other companies don’t admit their products are limited, full of leaks, slow and hard to use.
To check your own words out for weasel words and gobbledygook, check out the new Gobbledygook Grader Scott created with HubSpot.
