How do you feel when you can see that someone is trying to impress you?
It depends on the way they go about it, right?
We all try to impress others in some way. For most of us it simply means being friendly and "real." It means "putting our best foot forward." It also means dressing appropriately and carrying on an intelligent conversation. In that situation, the attempt to impress is subtle. It's also inoffensive.
Of course, someone hoping to work for you is going to try to impress you by listing their credentials, experience, etc. That's what they're expected to do in that situation and you'd be disappointed if they didn't.
Then there are those who seek to impress by being loud, obnoxious, obscene, or just plain stupid. They're the kind who seem to want to make a negative impression - and they do.
And then... there are those who try to impress by using words designed to show that they're "professionals." In spite of the fact that I'm a "word person" I can't think of exactly what to call those words. Pompous, perhaps? Maybe condescending or pretentious, or self-important? They're kind of "Look at me, I really know a lot" words.
If you use these "words meant to impress" in conversation with someone who doesn't know their meaning, you've lost the communication. You've also annoyed them, because you've made them feel inferior for not knowing what the heck you're talking about. Since nobody really likes anyone who makes them feel inferior, that's not a good thing to do to prospects.
I came across one of those words today in a comment on a blog post. (No, not on Active Rain.)
The woman was giving advice about a website and she said: "You need to identify and maybe quantify the things that make you different and better than your competition."
Now, "quantify" is not a word I use. In fact, it always annoys me. I actually passed on a copywriting job for someone whose phone conversation was filled with that and similar words. I knew he'd want them in the copy to his clients, and I just couldn't / wouldn't do that.
I'll admit that I had never taken the time to find out exactly what it means. But even being unsure of the exact definition, it felt "off" in this sentence. So I looked it up, and I think perhaps that writer doesn't know exactly what it means either.
quantify:
1. to discover or express the quantity of
2. (Philosophy / Logic) Logic to specify the quantity of (a term) by using a quantifier, such as all, some, or no
What do you think? Do you need to express the quantity of the things that make you different from your competition? It seems to me you might want to mention or discuss or explain the things that make you different, not count them.
I believe using these "impressive" words is always a mistake - unless you're speaking with other people who use them in their daily life. But if you DO choose to use them, it would be a really good idea to look them up and know exactly what you're saying.
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