The 10 most overused words on LinkedIn
Each year, LinkedIn shares a list of the 10 most over-used words on its user's profiles. Here’s what LinkedIn users in my fellow country of the UK are guilty of using repeatedly:
Creative Enthusiastic Excellent Experienced Focused Leadership Passionate Strategic Specialised Successful
As part of my CV writing services, I also re-write a lot of LinkedIn summaries for people wanting to make a good first impression. So when I saw this list it came as little surprise to me.
I'm not using this blog to say that you’re entirely banned from using those words for your online profile, but I have two suggestions to avoid sounding entirely...well, blah:
Add some meat to the bones
Just saying you’re ‘enthusiastic’ doesn’t really enthuse the reader. If you instead add some detail – expanding to describe what makes you enthusiastic, what happens when your enthusiasm is present, or how that enthusiasm has helped you deliver – then it can become interesting.
Say it another way
Finding alternative ways to express those buzzwords can serve you well. For example, instead of saying you’re ‘passionate’ about something, why not say ‘I get the biggest kick from…’ or ‘If there’s one thing that gets me going it’s…’ or ‘words alone cannot do justice describing the way [your passion point] makes me feel …’
The wording still needs to sound like you, so assuming you don't pepper every conversation with the same word every time, you’ll find you use different expressions as a point of reference – so listen out for them.
