When you talk to your friends, family, coworkers, and even clients, do you say, “I do not like green eggs and ham,” or “I don’t like green eggs and ham?” The difference looks slight on screen, but say both phrases out loud. Does one make you sound like a robot, and one make you sound, well, normal?
Often we’ll write copy for a client and send it over for feedback, and it comes back with “don’t” changed to “do not” and “click here to see what we mean” changed to “please click on this link for more information.” Like with the green eggs and ham example, these “edited” versions sound nothing like the way people really talk.
When you’re talking to clients on the phone, writing web copy, or giving sales presentations, stick with more common language, smaller words, and shorter phrases. People have a tendency to think skipping contractions and using fifty-cent words makes them sound smarter, but all it really does is make them sound pretentious and have their message fall on deaf ears.
Need proof? Check out what Virden Thornton of The Selling Edge has to say:
Most business professionals are surprised to learn that the Wall Street Journal is written so that it can be understood by readers with an eighth-grade education. When you read this highly respected business publication, you find that potentially unfamiliar terms are always explained within an article and repeatedly defined from one issue to another. Also, article sentence structures are simple, not complex."
The editors of The Wall Street Journal know that simplicity and clarity are more important in communicating effectively than impressing their readers with an overly sophisticated vocabulary and writing style. Sales professionals can learn a valuable lesson from the editors of the Journal. When you're communicating with prospects, clients, customers or co-workers – whether verbally or in writing – Keep It Simple!
If you're going to err when communicating, you need to do it on the side of simplicity and avoid talking over the heads of your listeners or readers. Even if you find that a prospect is highly educated and knowledgeable about your product line or services, you will always be understood if you keep your words and messages uncomplicated. That means you don't use multisyllable words when a one syllable words will do, and you work to rid your vocabulary of industry or company jargon.
If you keep your language simple, you'll improve your chances of being understood by everyone that you encounter both in business and in your personal communications.
That pretty much sums it up. Virden’s got a lot of other good sales advice and tools, which you can access on his website. And the best part? Writing and speaking simply make your job a lot easier! |