Do your marketing communications have a case of the blah blah blahs? Follow these 5 tips for communicating in human, and your customers and prospects will want to hang out, and even buy stuff from you too.

1. by
(and make customers wanna hug you)

2. The average consumer sees or
hears almost 3,000 marketing
messages per day.

3. And most of them sound like this:

4. blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
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blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
And most of them sound like this:

5. Why? Because they sound like
exactly what they are:

6. Sales pitches.

7. Sales pitches.
Interruptions.

8. Sales pitches.
Interruptions.
Clutter.

9. Sales pitches.
Interruptions.
Clutter.

10. If you want to be heard, you have
to stop talking like a marketer.

11. If you want to be heard, you have
to stop talking like a marketer.

12. If you want to be heard, you have
to stop talking like a marketer.
And start talking like a
human.

13. If you want to be heard, you have
to stop talking like a marketer.
And start talking like a
human.

14. 1.
Write the way you talk.
1.

15. Have you ever turned to your
buddy while enjoying a beer and
said…

16. Have you ever turned to your
buddy while enjoying a beer and
said…
The CorpTech solution
delivers an actionable
competitive advantage.
Seamless, state-of-the-art
technology allows
customers to maximize
value.

17. If so, let’s not grab drinks
sometime.

18. We don’t use business speak to
talk to our friends, family and work
besties. So why do we use it when
we talk to our customers?

19. Business Speak
A state-of-the-art lid-adhesive
solution for packaged consumer
foods with flexible adhesion,
designed to significantly reduce the
time-to-open

20. Human Speak
This is a new kind of film lid for food
containers that’s easier to open.

21. Human Speak
This is a new kind of film lid for food
containers that’s easier to open.

22. A couple reasons why business
speak may creep into your
communication with customers…

23. 1. You suffer from the Curse of
Knowledge.

24. 1. You suffer from the Curse of
Knowledge.
(™ Robin Hogarth, super smart guy)

25. When you know a lot about
something, it makes it harder for
you to speak clearly to someone
who doesn't know as much about
that topic.

26. As an expert, you’re susceptible to
scary things like long, rambly,
technical descriptions. And jargon.
Jargon’s the worst!

27. Your company and industry have
jargon that everyone uses and
understands. So throwing around
the term “GOAP” is just everyday
language to you.

28. Your company and industry have
jargon that everyone uses and
understands. So throwing around
the term “GOAP” is just everyday
language to you.
Harrison, we need to reconnect on that
GOAP issue after lunch. I’m a
completely normal human saying
normal things.

29. But your customer doesn’t get
GOAP.

30. But your customer doesn’t get
GOAP.
GOAP might as well stand for “stop
paying attention to this email right
now.”

31. What to do

32. What to do
• Sub in Plain English for business
speak. How would you explain
this concept to your mom? Write it
that way instead.

33. What to do
• If you have to use business
speak, explain the jargony terms
first, and then define them.

34. A Plain English, Explain First
Example

35. A Plain English, Explain First
Example
You know when you can’t get the plastic film off
your microwave meal? And you have to attack
the film with a knife just to eat your chicken
nuggets?

36. A Plain English, Explain First
Example
You know when you can’t get the plastic film off
your microwave meal? And you have to attack
the film with a knife just to eat your chicken
nuggets?
stab stab stab!

37. A Plain English, Explain First
Example
We call that GOAP—or Grossly Over-Adhesive
Plastic—and our Handi-Lids are made with a
different kind of plastic, so your customers don’t
have to deal with GOAP and your lids peel off
quickly and easily.

38. 2. You’re a B2B business, so you
need to sound professional.

39. Legitimate…if you’re talking directly to a
computer or an Excel spreadsheet. (And
they’d probably rather you communicated in
currency or binary code.)

40. Legitimate…if you’re talking directly to a
computer or an Excel spreadsheet. (And
they’d probably rather you communicated in
currency or binary code.)
010011001100011
0001110111000111
0011001100011

41. Legitimate…if you’re talking directly to a
computer or an Excel spreadsheet. (And
they’d probably rather you communicated in
currency or binary code.)
010011001100011
0001110111000111
0011001100011
*I love
you

42. Companies are made up of people.

43. Sure, you shouldn’t mirror your
writing after an Instagram
comment.

44. Sure, you shouldn’t mirror your
writing after an Instagram
comment.

45. Sure, you shouldn’t mirror your
writing after an Instagram
comment.
But there’s lots of comfy room
between “LOL, BRB” and business
speak.

46. 3. You want to make your product
sound important.

47. Understandable. But people don’t care
about important. They care about:

48. Understandable. But people don’t care
about important. They care about:
• Is this easy to understand?

49. Understandable. But people don’t care
about important. They care about:
• Is this easy to understand?
• Can this help me?

50. Understandable. But people don’t care
about important. They care about:
• Is this easy to understand?
• Can this help me?
• No really, can this help me?

51. Instead of thinking about how fancy
your product sounds, focus about what
the customer cares about. Which
reminds us…

52. 1.
Talk to “you.”
2.

53. Who is you?

54. You is the person you’re talking to.

55. You is the person you’re talking to.
Not your target audience

56. You is the person you’re talking to.
Not “moms age 28-34 who buy
organic and are imaginary BFFs
with Olivia Pope”
Not your target audience

57. You is the person you’re talking to.
Not “moms age 28-34 who buy
organic and are imaginary BFFs
with Olivia Pope”
Not your target audience
omg kale

58. For right now, “you” is Emily, who
works at a packaging company.

59. For right now, “you” is Emily, who
works at a packaging company.

60. One of the simplest, easiest ways
to make you’re sure talking to a
person and not a smooshed-up
demographic chunk of people is to
use the word you.

61. Smooshed-Up
Chunk
Handi-Lids allow our
customers to save an
average of $13,500 a year
in lid materials costs.

62. Smooshed-Up
Chunk
Handi-Lids allow our
customers to save an
average of $13,500 a year
in lid materials costs.
You
You can save an average of
$13,500 on your lid
materials costs.

63. See how much more personal that
sounds? Emily is feeling
appreciated already.

64. Which is more than she gets from
her layabout husband and two
unappreciative gerbils.

65. 1.
Don’t assume. Ask.
3.

66. So we’re talking directly to Emily.

67. Emily, can we call you Em? Yes?
Great.

68. Another way to make sure that
we’re talking to our friend Em is to
ask her questions instead of
assuming that we know about her
needs.

69. Your research can give you insights
into what your audience cares
about overall, but it can’t tell you
what Em cares about.

70. research says: cost,
materials, efficiency

71. research says: cost,
materials, efficiency
tacos!!!!!

72. For example, your research may
say that your primary targets work
in the manufacturing department
and care most about cost.

73. But ol’ Em actually works in
marketing, and she cares most
about consumer-friendly features—
in this case, how Handi-Lids open
wicked fast.

74. But ol’ Em actually works in
marketing, and she cares most
about consumer-friendly features—
in this case, how Handi-Lids open
wicked fast.

75. But ol’ Em actually works in
marketing, and she cares most
about consumer-friendly features—
in this case, how Handi-Lids open
wicked fast.

76. How would you ever know that’s
what Em does? You can ask.

77. Hi Em, thanks for chatting with me today.

78. Hi Em, thanks for chatting with me today. So
tell me: what do you do over at your
company?

79. Hi Em, thanks for chatting with me today. So
tell me: what do you do over at your
company?
Manufacturing
Sales
Marketing
Another department

80. Other ways to ask:
Does your child know what they
want to be when they grow up?

81. Asking is a really important part of
communicating in human.

82. Think about it: which is
more pleasant?

83. Think about it: which is
more pleasant?
A conversation
where the other
person just
yammers on and
on

84. Think about it: which is
more pleasant?
A conversation
where the other
person just
yammers on and
on
blahdy blah
blah

85. Think about it: which is
more pleasant?
A conversation
where the other
person just
yammers on and
on
One where the
other person asks
you questions and
helps you be
heard
blahdy blah
blah

86. Think about it: which is
more pleasant?
A conversation
where the other
person just
yammers on and
on
One where the
other person asks
you questions and
helps you be
heard
blahdy blah
blah ? 

87. Asking allows you to find out what
people actually care about. Then,
you can share the information that’s
most relevant to them, which keeps
them tuned in.

88. 1.
Practice empathy.
4.

89. It can be really easy in business
communications to focus on
checking a box, especially when
something goes wrong.

90. Like, for example, when you sent
someone the wrong kazoo.

91. Like, for example, when you sent
someone the wrong kazoo.
I wanted blue    

93. That email checks the box. It tells
the customer that you made a
mistake, and you are correcting it.

94. But does it sound like you care?
You probably really do!

95. There is a real person over in
shipping who feels really sad
he put the green kazoo in the
box instead of the blue kazoo
and now the customer is sad!

96. To communicate in human, you
need to practice empathy and put
yourself in the customer’s shoes.

97. To communicate in human, you
need to practice empathy and put
yourself in the customer’s shoes.
Here’s an empathetic
version of that same
email:

99. And don’t save all these wonderful
emotions for “we screwed up”
communications.

100. Making a human connection can
help people make the decision to
take the next step.

101. So help people feel something, and
you are helping them take action.

102. So help people feel something, and
you are helping them take action.
*Ideally about your
product, and not
about meerkat
politics or something.

103. So help people feel something, and
you are helping them take action.
*Ideally about your
product, and not
about meerkat
politics or something.
I am the
king!

104. Another example of practicing
empathy:
How do you feel when
you hear the word
“budget”?

105. 1.
Don’t be boring.
5.

106. Did you know:

107. Did you know:
Every time someone is reading
your marketing message, they
could be watching a video about a
deer and a dog that are best
friends?

108. Click to see a deer and dog be adorable! We’ll wait
until you come back.
Picture and video via National Geographic

109. It’s true. And while your marketing
may never be quite as enthralling
as interspecies BFFs…

110. You can use fun to help your
messages grab attention—and
keep it.

111. A Normal Speed Display Sign

112. A Normal Speed Display Sign

113. Not very fun.

114. A Fun Speed Display Sign

115. A Fun Speed Display Sign
Tells you you’re under
the speed limit.
Fun!

116. The fun sign with the smiley face
reduced speeding by 55% over the
normal sign.

117. Fun makes people change their
behavior.

118. More Fun

119. A group in Sweden wanted to get
more people to throw their trash in
garbage cans.
More Fun

120. A group in Sweden wanted to get
more people to throw their trash in
garbage cans.
More Fun
So they asked themselves, “how
can we make this more fun?”

121. More Fun
Via the smarties at The Fun Theory

122. In one day, people threw 72 kg of
trash into the fun can.

123. They only threw 42 kg of trash into
the normal can nearby.

124. You can use fun to make customers
want to hang out with you. And take
the next step.

125. You can use fun to make customers
want to hang out with you. And take
the next step.
Even if you’re not in a “fun”
industry.

126. Take this example from GE.
(Power, appliances, etc.…not exactly
what the kids are talking about.)

127. From GE’s Pinterest Page
See the original image here.

128. Make your communication fun,
and people will want to
listen.

129. Make your communication fun,
and people will want to
listen.
Wheeeee tell me more about
toner cartridgesssss!

130. 1.
Speak human in everything
that you do.
6!Special
bonus

131. • Error messages

132. • Error messages
• Logging in

133. • Error messages
• Logging in
• Chat support

134. • Error messages
• Logging in
• Chat support
• Invoices

135. • Error messages
• Logging in
• Chat support
• Invoices
• Everything!!!

136. And your customers and prospects
will love you for it.

137. Check out examples of our
quite human Interactive
Conversations
blog
Visit our blog where we muse
about Damn Good
Communication