A few weeks ago, I posed a question on Twitter and Facebook: If you could eliminate a word from marketing/PR use, what would it be? Not surprisingly, many writers chimed in. Check out the list:

1. Leverage

2. Synergy

3. State-of-the-art

4. Value-add

5. Ahead of the curve

6. Utilize

7. Cutting edge

8. Robust

9. New and Improved

10. Innovative

Guilty of using these too often? A lot of us are. But let’s remember that consumers (and reporters) can see through language to the truth. Don’t call your product “innovative” if it’s not. And try not to “leverage” anything when “use” works just fine.

Thanks for chiming in to: Jenn Woolson, @cswriter, @gritsync, Amy Lynn Smith, @BethCochran, Aaron Tippetts, Carmelo Walsh