Sometimes, I feel sorry for journalists who have to wade through the PR garbage that infests their inboxes. In PR, we could really make it easy for them by cutting the cliches. Here’s a place to start.
Based on what I see, the most overused word in PR is, in its various forms, “exciting.” Companies are excited to announce something. The announcement is exciting. How exciting? The lead quote from the CEO talks about how excited the company is to be making the announcement.
Please, fellow PR types, let’s contain our excitement for exciting. Do we really expect journalists to fall for this? How about just letting them know what the news is? If you’re announcing something new, explain what it is, how it’s new and why the company thinks it’s important. Use the press release or the pitch as an opportunity to explain what’s in it for the journalist and the audience, not as a way to make your client feel good about its purported story.
I can tell you first hand, that I have edited “excited” and “exciting” out of many press releases and never has that hurt the chances of an announcement becoming news. In fact, it helps if you take out those words and replace them with language that actually explains newsworthiness, surrounded by facts. We really can all do better.
As for executive quotes, if you make them quotable (like quotes you actually see in news stories), they might actually get used in stories by journalists who are busier than ever. But if you just write “We’re excited to announce…” or “This is an exciting day for us because…” the quote will never make it into a bona fide news outlet.
The next time you think about using those words, think about true excitement. As a sports fan, a play like the end of the 2013 Auburn-Alabama football game comes to mind. That was exciting and, emotionally, it couldn’t be further away from the announcement of a new 500 square feet of office space.