Friday, February 24, 2006
Drivel-Avoiding Test
Here's another approach to harnessing the power of specificity to build credibility.
To avoid writing drivel or deadeningly dull descriptions, Guy Kawasaki, founder of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm and author of *The Art of the Start*, suggests using the "opposite test" on adjectives you're tempted to use, especially in marketing materials.
Reverse the meaning of each adjective and ask yourself, would anyone ever say this about their company or their products?
If not, then your original adjective is meaningless.
For example, Kawasaki says, "It would be fine to describe your product as 'intuitive, secure, fast, and scalable' if your competition describes its product as 'hard to use, vulnerable, slow, and limited.'
However, this probably isn't the case, so you're saying nothing."
To get your point across, replace each hollow adjective with a concrete, factual statement:
For "intuitive": End users need no training.
For "secure": No one has ever hacked it.
This way, notes Kawasaki, you're less likely to sound exactly like competitors, who too often act as if customers have not heard the prevailing "same-old, same-old."
To avoid writing drivel or deadeningly dull descriptions, Guy Kawasaki, founder of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm and author of *The Art of the Start*
Reverse the meaning of each adjective and ask yourself, would anyone ever say this about their company or their products?
If not, then your original adjective is meaningless.
For example, Kawasaki says, "It would be fine to describe your product as 'intuitive, secure, fast, and scalable' if your competition describes its product as 'hard to use, vulnerable, slow, and limited.'
However, this probably isn't the case, so you're saying nothing."
To get your point across, replace each hollow adjective with a concrete, factual statement:
For "intuitive": End users need no training.
For "secure": No one has ever hacked it.
This way, notes Kawasaki, you're less likely to sound exactly like competitors, who too often act as if customers have not heard the prevailing "same-old, same-old."
