(Writing Your Way To Riches, Part III)
Want to know what turns off your prospect faster than a cheetah on a Red Bull?
Being a boring, bland, robot of a human.
And not even a cool robot like the terminator, more like C-3PO.
People love other interesting people. The last thing we want is to become the white bread of someone’s day. Plain, simple, forgettable.
So what’s the most boring thing in the world? We call it waffling.
I didn’t know what this term meant until I was well on my marketing journey. Eventually I understood what it was. At that point I noticed it everywhere, even in my own life!
Once you spot waffling and learn to avoid it, you will gain an unfair advantage in life.
So let’s dive in and learn to…
Identify Waffling
Let’s dissect three examples to get an idea of what waffling is.
Take a look at this sentence:
“The meeting will be held at five and what will be discussed is ‘the sorry state of business writing.”⠀
Or this one:
“I’m reaching out to you because we’ve been in the process of developing a new marketing system geared towards the generation of leads for home service businesses.“
And lastly:
“Do you have 30 seconds for me to explain what I can do for you? I know you are busy so I don’t want to waste your time.”
You know what they have in common?
You guessed it. They’re all waffling.
Notice the weak, castrated language in all three examples. How can you expect to rise above the noise when standing in quicksand?
Here are a couple of pro-tips to identify waffling. Your language:
- Is inconsistent or contradicts itself.
- Is redundant.
- Lacks clarity.
Now that you can identify waffling, bust out your knife…
It’s Time To Cut The Waffle
Let’s return to the examples above, this time with gumption.
“The meeting will be held at five and what will be discussed is ‘the sorry state of business writing.”
It’s long winded and ineffective. If a flat tire were a sentence, this would be it.
Try this instead:
“The meeting’s at five. Subject: ‘the sorry state of business writing’.”
See how direct and to the point it is?
Next one:
“I’m reaching out to you because we’ve been in the process of developing a new marketing system geared towards the generation of leads for home service businesses.“
I don’t blame you if you had to read that several times to comprehend it.
How many times have you received a phone call like this? You’re stuck waiting there for the guy to finish his sentence, all so you can say “No thanks, I’m good.” *click*
Let’s fix it.
“Reaching out because we generate leads for home service businesses. Would that be of interest to you?“
Very concise, and gets to the point right away.
I saved the best for last. Let’s take a look.
“Do you have 30 seconds for me to explain what I can do for you? I know you are busy so I don’t want to waste your time.”
Here’s how you fix this double decker Belgian waffle of a sentence:
…Remove it completely. You heard right. The entire sentence doesn’t do anything!
Telling them you don’t want to waste their time is a contradiction. By its very nature that utterance has wasted their time. It’s better to just be concise and get to the point.
This all boils down to using what we call “active language” instead of “passive language.”
A couple more examples to drive the point home:
Passive: The ball was thrown by the boy.
Active: The boy threw the ball.
Passive: The cake was eaten by the dog.
Active: The dog ate the cake.
If you want a more formal definition, active language places the subject before the action. It removes clutter, allows you to be direct, and most importantly…
You Become Genuine When You Stop Waffling
Waffling is the linguistic equivalent of a wet noodle: bland, unappetizing, and ineffective.
Active language is the antidote to waffling. It’s a powerful tool that helps convey your message with conciseness and conviction.
Remember, the goal isn’t to be a jerk, but to be genuine. Respecting your audience’s time and avoiding fluff is a sign of professionalism and sincerity.
Until next time,
Robert
P.S. Want to know how I’d make sure we’d eradicate waffling and keep your prospects glued to their screen, unable to stop consuming your content?
Get in touch with my agency today. If we’re a good fit I will personally take a look at your company and your marketing, come up with a strategy of what I’d do differently and discuss it with you in depth on a call.
No cost, no obligation.
If you want to work together I’ll tell you exactly how that works, if you don’t want to work together that’s fine too. No hard selling, no pressure, no annoying sales tactics.
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