Make Your Words Count

Words.  Choose them carefully. Because they matter.
In 2020, more than ever.

The plan for this post is to pick holes in a lot of the syntax that’s surrounded the COVID pandemic, because if there is ever a time to start reading back over what you’ve written before hitting the button that sends it out for the rest of the world to see, it’s turning out to be 2020.

The language surrounding COVID has been problematic both in terms of the general word choice and phraseology surrounding the pandemic, but also in the way that brands and businesses have spoken to their customers and followers. Much of the language has been overly harsh, and that has no doubt served to increase the anxiety that many people have felt and are experiencing. Lockdown. Self isolation Social distancing. Lockdown sounds like the jackboot is being pushed down on you; like the keys are being thrown away. Why on earth didn’t government’s and media organisations call it something like “safety measures” Safety is a softer word. It looks and sounds softer, literally and figuratively Safety. Softer. S-f-t. It’s nicer than lockdown anyhow, and describes exactly what it is when we’re all asked to stay at home.

Some friends of Hailer have also highlighted some of the other COVID-associated words and phrases that are unhelpful, and suggested alternatives. Joey Hulin of Horizon Inspired pointed out what an awful phrase “self isolation” is for our mental wellbeing. Why not rephrase that process as ‘cocooning”? Hiding away for a bit, all wrapped up, hopefully to emerge better and brighter on the other side. And Kai Elmer Sotto of People and Company rightly took umbrage with the term social distancing. “It’s not social distancing that we’re being asked to do” he pointed out in a mid-lockdown interview, “Many people are more socially connected through Facetime and Zoom, through things like quiz nights with friends, than ever before. What we’re actually doing is PHYSICAL distancing.”

As for brands and business communications. Nobody needs to read “in these strange (and/or) unprecedented times” ever again. Plenty of brands also woefully misjudged huge swathes of their audience every time they posted “if you’re finding yourself with a little extra time on your hands at the moment…” during lockdown. Sure, lots of people did have a bit more free time to join webinars, do online courses, consume more content or bake sourdough. But ask any parent who hadn’t been furloughed and was having to homeschool their kids or entertain preschoolers whilst working from home, if they’d found any extra time anywhere? For lots of people in lots of different situations lockdown was no holiday, and there’s a good chance that they might not have taken to warmly to the offering of endless lockdown leisure or professional development activities whilst simply trying to keep their ship afloat. So brands and businesses, please learn from lockdown and consider your audience in its entirety, and adjust your language accordingly.

Considering that this year is turning out to be a defining point in modern human history (and not for any good reasons, so far), perhaps you’ll decide to make 2020 the year in which you or your organisation take a moment to make words count.