{"id":29112,"date":"2015-03-27T04:45:07","date_gmt":"2015-03-27T09:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=29112"},"modified":"2015-03-27T04:45:07","modified_gmt":"2015-03-27T09:45:07","slug":"profanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/profanity\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much Business Is Your Profanity Costing You?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I follow a lot of speakers, bloggers, and podcasters who swear on stage, on screen, and at the microphone. I'm no fan of profanity, but I\u2019ll wade through it if there\u2019s a payoff.<\/p>\n\n

I\u2019ve made huge gains in my personal and professional life from people who could make sailors blush. But here\u2019s the thing: I don\u2019t always feel comfortable directing my audience to do the same. It\u2019s just not worth offending them.<\/p>\n

That means great content providers are losing potential audience growth, and potential audiences are missing some great content. So is cussing really worth it?<\/p>\n

A majority of people swear from time to time, but it\u2019s recently become far more prevalent in public. Why? One of the main reasons in the business world is creating an edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cUttering a taboo word in public is a great hierarchy-buster,\u201d says Lee Siegel<\/a>. \u201cIt also gives you an extra boost in a society that is becoming ever more competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most speakers and bloggers I know who use profanity do it for this reason. It\u2019s part of their personal style, meant to set them apart from other communicators. But like anything, there\u2019s an opportunity cost involved in dropping F-bombs and using blasphemy.<\/p>\n

I want to focus on three simple reasons cussing might be costing you more than you think.<\/p>\n

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  1. Profanity alienates people.<\/strong> Because cussing is still mostly private in our culture, when someone does it in public it can make him seem more personable and relateable. Communicators can use it for a quick win with audiences. But it doesn\u2019t always work that way.\n

    Plenty of people find swearing off-putting in public, even if they occasionally swear themselves. So instead of creating connection, swearing creates discomfort<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    This is especially true for people who see themselves as religious, which my audience overwhelmingly does<\/a>. As our society has become more secular, we\u2019ve let the reins go on blasphemy, but the truth is that a huge segment of the population finds this more offensive than just about anything.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. Profanity hurts your brand.<\/strong> Because swearing alienates people, it can really ding your brand. We know this intuitively, don\u2019t we? In one study, CareerBuilder.com<\/a> found that bosses tend to look down on employees who swear. And sports recruiters<\/a> say rough language can cost college students recruitment opportunities.\n

    It\u2019s no different in the world of speaking, blogging, and podcasting. Many in the audience may not care, but many certainly will. And, as Joel Comm said<\/a> about this topic, \u201cIf you are disrespectful of your audience, the impact of your message is going to be diminished.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Profanity doesn\u2019t work.<\/strong> In the movie Patton<\/em> the famous general is asked about his coarse language. When he wants his men to remember something, he says, \u201cI give it to them loud and dirty.\u201d There\u2019s some truth to that. Profanity packs a punch, but it gets less effective all the time.<\/p>\n

    Cussing only works because we slot certain words in a special class. By overusing them, people are actually making them less potent. It\u2019s like overusing italics, boldface, and underlines. After a while, it\u2019s just noise. Even if people don\u2019t find it offensive, it\u2019s getting in the way of our message.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\t\t