Raise your white-collared hand if you've ever heard someone talk about “grabbing the low-hanging fruit” in a meeting.
🙄🙋♀️
Clichés like this are common in business, but that doesn't mean you have to use them. If Sally jumped off a cliff, would you, too? (There's another cliché, in case you missed it.)
Remove these tired phrases from your vocabulary to sound less eye-roll-y and more like you actually know what you're talking about:
- “The elephant in the room”
- “Think outside the box”
- “Move the needle”
- “Low-hanging fruit”
- “Get our ducks in a row”
- “Reinvent the wheel”
- “Let's circle back”
- “Put a pin in it”
- “Actionable insights”
- “At the end of the day”
- “Build a better mousetrap”
- “Deep dive”
- “Paradigm shift”
- “Get a 30,000-foot view”
- “Content is king”
- “Push the envelope”
- “Have bandwidth”
- “Pick your brain”
- “Data driven”
- “Core competency”
- “Due diligence”
- “My two cents' worth”
- “Drinking from the fire hose”
- “Getting some push-back”
- “Close the loop”
- “Quick wins”
- “Comparing apples to apples”
- “Peel back the onion”
- “In your wheelhouse”
- “Thought leader”
- “On the same page”
- “Break down silos”
- “Open-door policy”
- “Out of pocket”
- “Change agent”
- “Industry disruptor”
- “Stay in your lane”
Bottom line: Want to move the needle sound more original? Think outside the box Don't use clichés.
With a wink,
Sarah 😘
