Three words every PR pro should ban

If you want to make a professional New Year’s resolution, start by banning “excited,” “thrilled” and “honored” in all press releases

It is the duty of every public relations professional who is called upon to conjure quotes for executives to remove these three words from their vocabulary immediately.

This habit is far worse than buying Aramis cologne for your dad’s birthday 30 years in a row. He can impress his neighbors at Boca Vista Village in Florida and wash it off at the end of the day, but your name is stuck on that press release forever.

This is going to be a tough one to conquer. Just a look through Google News for the words “we are excited to be” and you can see how deep this lazy publicist’s pattern is ingrained in our profession’s DNA. Here are three examples of the 500 I found in the last 60 days:

“We are excited to be playing in the PapaJohns.com Bowl.” – Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano

“We are excited to be part of the community and we welcome our new neighbors in for breakfast, lunch or anytime.” – Garry Teal, regional business director for Einstein Bros. Bagels