What Is a ‘Fluff’ Word?
Have you ever looked at someone’s post in your own industry or someone in general just selling online and something about their vocabulary just feels ‘ick’ or slimy? This is a daily occurrence on my IG timeline!
Fluff or filler words are unnecessary words, phrases, or details used in text that add no value to the point that you’re trying to get across, in fact they often skirt around it or can make you sound like an expert at something you have no idea about.
How Fluff Can Help You
I’m THE KING of fluff and filler when it comes to my academic essays or assignments. I can take any prompt and turn it into a five paragraph google document at this point in my schooling. As a student I had to learn and navigate to be the best bullshitter I can be.
The Problem of Speaking With a Filter
But when it comes to my business, I am all about being blunt and to the point. I can’t afford to use industry jargon or random words to help them understand why my role in social media marketing is important for their business through education or investment in my services.
Also from my perspective in building my empire or investing money back into my systems, subscriptions, and automated processes I need things to be dumbed down so I know WTF is going on. I chose Facebook’s Creator Studio over Later solely for the purpose of its simple layout and easy usability. The same goes for on my timeline as I’m starting to scout for a business coach & mentor to start scaling up a level.
And if I’m tired of seeing these words being used in users' content, I can’t be the only one. Even though I'm guilty of using these words from time to time, I try my best to avoid them at all costs. And here’s why you should TO:
Fluff Words to Avoid:
#1 - ‘Live Your Best Life’
I don’t know who came up with this word, but everyone on social media has been running with it ever since, like someone is holding a gun to their head to say it. I always thought this phrase sounded like BS. What does living your best life even mean to your consumer? It’s an empty phrase that will only lead to you over-explaining what you can do for them.
The solution? Get to the point of what you do. Just describe your solution to their problem, and how you plan on doing that through a platform or process. For example, instead of being a confidence coach that helps women live their best life, how about a confidence coach for corporate moms finding their work life balance to excel in their career and spend time with their family through time blocking exercises.
#2 - GirlBOSS
Not that this is necessarily a bad term, I’M ALL FOR female entrepreneurs (As Bey said, they run this mother) but girlboss is now associated with an elite group of scammers, mean girls, elitist, and even racist individuals. What was once an empowering term has become a MAJOR RED FLAG for people looking to invest in someone’s products or services. Read more about it here:
#3 - ‘New Normal’
We’ve all seen the commercials from corporate giants that made the rounds in the last two years with phrases such as “In these difficult times”, “we’re all in this together’, and the dreaded “in this new normal’. Literal EYE ROLL. Sure, you can share how you coped with the pandemic, or how your business took off, we love that for you!
But these post-pandemic terms are SO PLAYED OUT… Not to mention, we’re technically still in the pandemic. COVID never went away, our governments just stopped caring and we’re all trying to move on from the worst of it. This isn’t political, it’s just a fact.
Everyone can see right through these phrases, you can be genuine in other ways. You can talk about the pandemic in other ways. But don’t use a global tragedy to fear monger people into investing in you.
You are already more than enough, the value you provide in your content, your social proof, etc.
#4 - Hesitant Language (ex. Maybe, Hope)
This is something I had to unlearn multiple times. When getting on a sales call, or chattings in the DMs, the last thing you want to do is leave your customer wondering if you are truly credible or if they can rely on you to get them results.
Any language that indicates hesitation or insecurity can turn off a customer faster than you can say “I hope we can speak again!”
There's nothing wrong with letting your customer take time to think about your offer, or a feeling of your offer not aligning with a potential client, but there are ways to curve this through confident follow ups, accountability dates, or working through their concerns in the moment.
It’s also a matter of sending signals to the universe that your customer is ready to buy from you and that you are confident in seeing it through. By turning “maybe we can chat at a later date” to “I look forward to hearing from you in 48 hours” tells the higher powers that you’re open to receiving new work, you want to be paid, and you’ve set things in motion to make it happen. Affirm and create the reality that you want. There is no room for speculation.
At the end of the day, it can be hard to control our vocabulary at the moment. We all have foggy brains, nerves, and mispronunciation from time to time, but it can become possible over time. Practice makes perfect, and it can be further effective if you try and avoid these words in your social media content.
It’s time to start working SMARTER📚 not HARDER🙇🏻♂️. Book a *FREE* Content Conjure 🔮 call today, and let’s chat by filling out my typeform!
P.S. Connect with me on social media here if you want to talk more! DMs are always open !
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