It’s part of the bland, rusty PR toolkit that needs upgraded.
By Roy Harryman
“Excited” is a default adjective infecting press releases, social media and advertising, leading to serious symptoms of meh, blah and …
I couldn’t even finish that sentence because the overuse of “excited” made me mentally wander to happier places.
Excited is the word we use when we don’t know what else to say or are under pressure to just say something.
“I’m so excited that Chad Worthington is joining us as senior associate VP for stuff and things.”
“I’m so excited that my colleague, Sandra Balthasar, received the Gimmee Award from the American Association Tonsillectomy Archivists.”
“Wedge Corp. has just released version 4.0 of its exciting new software analyzing bowling ball sanitization, setting new standards for hygienic bowling experiences.”
While these examples are a little tongue-in-cheek, they all illustrate a flippant and even lazy use of excited.
Who cares?
If it’s worth writing, then it’s worth writing effectively, eh? “Excited, excited, excited” communicates almost nothing. It’s a sugary blob poured over our words in the hope they’ll be digested more readily. Instead, they’re left on the hotplate, ignored.
A famous example of this concept is Major Frank Burns’ statement in the TV show M.A.S.H.: “It’s nice to be nice to the nice.”
Isn’t that nice?
Photo: TeePublic
So what’s the remedy?
Before getting all excited, we should think about what we actually want to say. What is our goal?
Example 1
The reason we’re “excited” Chad is joining us is because he is a proven leader and has demonstrated this at corporations A, B and C. He also won a Ralphie Award for organizational excellence. Therefore: “Chad Worthington is joining us as senior associate VP for stuff and things. He’s a proven leader and winner of the Ralphie Award and we’re eagerly looking forward to his contributions here.”
Example 2
We’re genuinely happy for Sandra. We love to see others in our organization succeed. “Congratulations to Sandra Balthasar, who received the Gimmee Award from the American Association Tonsillectomy Archivists. I’ve seen few archivists document tonsillectomies with the skill of Sandy.”
Example 3
Wedge Corp.’s software may be many things, but “exciting” probably isn’t one of them. Practical? Good for business? Good for public health? One of those would work. So we could say, “When people bowl, they take for granted the ball is sanitized. Often it’s not. That’s where Wedge Corp.’s newest software release comes in: We make sure that, when it comes to hygiene, there are no ‘strikes’ against your record.”
In that example, there’s no hyperbole or “excitement,” just a demonstration of the real-life utility of the product.
It takes more work to stop being “excited,” but I’m excited to tell you it’s worth it. 😊
Or, it takes more work to stop being “excited,” but if we can make a stronger connection with our audience, then it’s worth the sweat equity.
Isn’t that exciting?
Roy Harryman is the principal of Roy Harryman Marketing Communications and doesn’t often get excited. That may or may not be a good thing.