I got a marketing email from a friend last night and it goes like this:
“In order to grow, brands need to keep moving FORWARD. Sometimes outside influences can make the people responsible for managing brands stand STILL and important initiatives move NOWHERE. We seamlessly helps continue the momentum behind your innovation pipeline, while also providing a fresh perspective to optimize your strategic thinking.”
This was a presentation to solicit business from a brand consultant. It is hard to visualize what this consultant is selling. There are a lot of fuzzy words in there – like “seamlessly helps”, “continue the momentum”, “fresh perspective” and “strategic thinking”. It would be much more helpful if the consultant had provided a few specific concrete examples of what she does for her clients. Tell a story. Forget about all these “feel good” words. The term “strategic thinking” can mean 6 different things to 5 people!
All this talk about “moving forward” and “growing” is interesting. Do you really want to keep moving forward if you are heading towards the edge of a cliff? I think not. Do you want your cancerous tumor to keep growing? I hope not.
So – tell a story. Use specific examples. Use wheel barrow words – words that can be put in a wheel barrow!
Excellence in Presentations 