In a world where media of every kind is in an all-out war for our attention, superlatives and sensationalism have become the norm. We are all guilty of it. One of my go-to words is awesome, and I catch myself using it every day, even though I know not everything can be “awesome”.
Another overused word in today’s language is epic. I heard a sportscaster use that term to describe four consecutive snowboarders in a recent competition. The word has lost all meaning.
Other examples of overused words:
· Literally
· Seriously
· Amazing
· Like
We must take care not to fall into the overused word trap. Frankly it makes us less credible, and we will either lose the attention of our audience, or they will become so distracted by our words that they miss our message. And there is nothing awesome about that!
What words do you think are overused?
Kim Luedke is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing and support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff.
