You’re scrolling through your feed or opening your browser, and there it is! Another PLATITUDE! … “Be Yourself. Everyone Else is Taken.” “Work Hard, Dream Big.” “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.”
It’s all dressed up in a fancy font, slapped onto a sunset background.
I love the way Wikipedia describes ’em: “A platitude is a trite, meaningless, or prosaic statement, often used as a thought-terminating cliché, aimed at quelling social, emotional, or cognitive unease. The statement may be true, but its meaning has been lost due to its excessive use.”
“A thought-terminating cliché”. Wonderfully put.
Yet every word you write—in your posts, in your book—must be designed to do the opposite: to kickstart your reader’s thoughts. To reflect. To challenge and engage.
Replace platitudes with real talk. Pour water on the endless drivel and find a new way to say even the oldest idea.
3 ways to send platitudes to the graveyard:
- If it has been said so many times before, do you really need to say it? Can you leave it unsaid/unwritten?
- Use real examples. Talk about your personal experiences or those of people you know (with permission or anonymously).
- Google it. If it’s been said before, and you really want to say it, find a fresh way of putting it.
