Want to communicate that you are a provocative and innovative thinker? Well, here is what not to do when writing about yourself or your company.
Don’t try to tell me how extraordinary and brilliant you are while acting describing yourself like you are trying to be as average as possible.
Here’s an example of what I mean:
“Chuck Westbrook is a provocative and innovative thinker…”
Telling me that you’re provocative and innovative proves nothing–everyone says that they are provocative and innovative. In fact, that sentence absolutely SCREAMS to the contrary of what it is trying to say. If you were innovative and provocative, your ‘About Us’ page wouldn’t read like every other ‘About Us’ page ever written.
And yet, I just saw it written verbatim (with the name changed to avoid embarrassment) on the “About” page of an otherwise impressive blog.
How to Be in the 10%
If you want me to know that you are different, funny, creative, insightful, or any other attribute that depends on the value of your thought and communication, it’s worth the time and effort to show me while you tell me.
So when writing about yourself or your company, put away the carefully crafted adjectives and bring out the wit and creativity. Talk is cheap when you have the option of proving through an effective demonstration instead.
***For a brilliant example of how to show rather than tell, see how Stokefire finds a clever way to communicate the message, “Stokefire is a different kind of branding company.” Makes me want to hire them, and I don’t even have a company.
