That one piece of criticism I got 5 years ago that actually helped me grow

My manager at a small marketing agency in Austin told me my reports were 'too fluffy' and I needed to cut the filler. I was loading them with buzzwords like 'synergy' and 'optimization' thinking it made me sound smart. She showed me one of my old reports side by side with a simple bullet list version she wrote. After I started using just plain numbers and short sentences, my clients actually read the whole thing and stopped asking for clarification. Anybody else have a boss or coworker give feedback that stung at first but made you way better?

2 comments

2 Comments

lunaf6718h ago

Why do people think longer words automatically make them sound smarter?

nora_park15h ago

Oh man, this hit me right in the gut. I had a professor in college who told me my writing sounded like I was "trying too hard to impress people who don't care." She was right though. I was throwing in all these big words I barely understood myself, thinking it made me look like I knew what I was talking about. It took me a while to admit she was actually trying to help me, not just being mean. Now when I write anything I just focus on saying what I mean clearly and let the content speak for itself. Good on your manager for having the guts to tell you straight up like that.

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