Jason Alderman
Jason Alderman

In an era in which mistrust and misinformation have festered into a crisis of confidence for Americans, far too many communications professionals are unwittingly contributing to this debacle by injecting corporate gibberish into our news and information bloodstream.

Not only is the use of empty-calorie corporate language undermining faith in news, but it’s also backfiring against the very companies who use it.

When audiences read the carefully crafted press releases, statements, blog posts and social media posts, they don’t just doubt them, they actively dismiss them as meaningless noise. The reason? Excessive reliance on corporate buzzwords and over-used phrases, often the result of content written by committee.

A recent SmartNews survey of 1,030 Americans delivers this brutal wake-up call to communicators: corporate-speak—those convoluted, obtuse statements that have little meaning in real life—is poisoning your message and fueling distrust. If companies want to build credibility, PR teams must abandon legalese and corporate doublespeak in favor of plain, honest communication.

There are myriad reasons corporate comms professionals end up sending out content littered with cliched, meaningless phrases. Sometimes, a company’s legal department is too risk-averse and lacks an understanding of how the media landscape has changed. Americans are far too sophisticated and cynical to take at face value what companies say. This puts pressure on PR pros to make sure corporate messaging remains clear and cohesive in order to have even a remote chance of persuading the intended audience. Business jargon is an obstacle to achieving this goal.

Other times the reason is prioritizing speed over quality. This arsenal of meaningless phrases is often used in a time of stress or even crisis because PR pros consider them safe and feel pressure not to escalate the issue. So they take the path of least resistance and rely on stock statements and phrases—even from ChatGPT—they know won’t rock the boat internally. Our data shows this just makes the situation worse and reeks of obfuscation.

Let’s examine the survey results and what they mean for communicators.

Your buzzwords are setting off BS detectors

We live in a hyper-skeptical, overly online world where so much is laid bare. So when audiences see buzzwords and vague legalese, alarms go off.

The SmartNews survey found:

  • 90 percent of Americans question the sincerity of company messaging
  • 86 percent said companies delivered communications that had overused or inauthentic language
  • 36 percent of people find company statements overly scripted or PR-driven

People aren’t just—they’re annoyed. Why? Because they can see right through it. Statements that are supposed to reassure often do the opposite.

Some of the biggest culprits include:

  • “Out of an abundance of caution”
    What the public hears: “We really screwed up and hope you don’t notice”
  • “This is a game-changer for the industry.”
    What the public hears: “We desperately need this new product to work for our company”
  • "Our thoughts and prayers are with those impacted"
    What the public hears: “We don’t want to accept responsibility or make any changes”

If your spouse said to you: “Out of an abundance of caution, I’m taking all of the money from our bank accounts and moving with the kids to Las Vegas,” you’d rightly realize something was very wrong in the relationship. But instead of applying a normal standard of speaking to business communications, far too many companies find it acceptable to rely on these stilted phrases, leaving news consumers with the same sinking feeling as the spouse forsaken for Vegas.

Three new rules for rebuilding trust

The solution? Audiences crave clarity. Shift from performative messaging to meaningful engagement. Here are a few tips for communicators to get it right:

  1. Say it plainly. Drop the legalese and buzzwords. If a mistake was made, a sincere response beats a scripted apology every time.
  2. Don’t write and edit by committee. Not every member of the C-suite needs to weigh in on every corporate statement or press release. Reduce the number of review cycles and restrict it to only the most critical stakeholders.
  3. Build a strong rapport with the legal team. Getting corporate content past legal approval without significant watering down happens when comms people educate the lawyers on how maintaining the public’s trust is essential for keeping customers and winning in the courtroom.

At a time when misinformation runs rampant and corporate credibility is fragile, clarity and authenticity aren’t just better PR—it’s a better business strategy.

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Jason Alderman oversees communications at AI-powered news aggregation app SmartNews. He previously ran global communications at Integral Ad Science and served as the chief communications officer at the fintech startup Fast and healthtech insurer Clover Heath, overseeing government relations, external and internal communications, as well as corporate social responsibility at both companies.