Delete utilise and leverage, Toggl's interesting testimonial quote choice, an endorsement of pen and paper
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Let’s get to work, folks.
TIP: Delete the words “utilise” and “leverage”. They are terrible.
EXAMPLE: Serena WIlliams is an interesting choice for Toggl’s testimonial quote
THOUGHT: Man, I love pen and paper.
Tip: Delete "utilise," delete "leverage"
These two words are the bane of my existence.
Utilise: Lots of people write “utilise” instead of “use,” just to sound, I don’t know, fancy or serious or something.
Don’t do it! Unless you’re specifically talking about utilisation (EG: how many days per year out of the total available your AirBNB is rented out), then just say “use” instead! "Utilise" isn't inherently better or clearer, just because it's longer. In fact, it's the opposite if you're using it wrong.
Leverage: This is similar to “utilise”. It has a highly specific meaning - when you’re using a small action to create an outcome that is far bigger than that action. Most of the time, you can just say "use" instead.
Just like “utilise,” there’s been a bit of mission creep over the years. Now, there’s a tendency to say “leverage” as a fancy version of “use”. Infuriatingly, it’s so common that it’s made its way into the dictionary definition:
Still - don’t use it! It is just a cluttery way to write “use,” and it gets in the way of whatever it is you’re trying to talk about. Say "use" instead and let your ideas speak for themselves.
There’s nothing wrong with complex words to express complex ideas. But there is something wrong with using complex-sounding words to make your ideas seem more complex, fancy or serious.
There's a big difference between these two approaches, and to write clearly, you need to be honest with yourself about which one you're taking. Use the big word if you need it - but if you don’t, just use a simple one.
Example: Toggl mixing up social proof and celebrity endorsements
As a Toggl user, I see this testimonial quote every time I log in to use the app.
None other than Serena Williams!
On one hand, I get it. An endorsement from such a well-known celebrity is a huge win for any company. It’s natural to want to use (leverage, if you will) that endorsement across as many channels as humanly possible - including your home page.
On the other hand, I don’t think a home page is the best place for a testimonial quote like this. Testimonial quotes in this context are all about showing potential customers how existing customers are getting value out of the product. They should really be from people whose goals and pain points are close to the goal and pain points of the people being asked to buy the product.
Basically, a potential customer should be able to read a testimonial quote, and put themselves in the shoes of the person saying it.
I do not think the typical Toggl user has a lot in common with Serena Williams.
The other odd thing about it is that at first glance, it looks like a typical testimonial quote. You really have to look at it quite closely to see that it’s from Serena Williams.
So it’s a bit of a worst of both worlds situation: the endorsement doesn’t really ring true, because it’s not from a typical user, and it also doesn’t do a great job of using the cache of a celebrity endorsement.
I’d swap this quote out for a regular testimonial quote - then put a big “as used by Serena Williams,” with a massive pic of her and link to the article it came from somewhere nearby on the home page.
I’d be interested to know why Toggl didn’t do this.
Thought: an ode to the mighty pen and paper
I have tried a lot of different digital note taking systems (Evernote, Roam, Notion, Google Docs, the notes app on my phone), but have finally just embraced the fact that pen and paper are the best note taking system for me.
I think the main reason for this is because note taking on paper forces you to be so much more deliberate and thoughtful about what you note down. When I’m using a digital system, I end up frantically copy/pasting and screenshotting everything imaginable in there - which in turn just creates white noise.
Same goes for writing by hand vs typing. I can type very quickly, but since I never learned cursive or shorthand, I really can’t write very fast by hand. This forces me to slow down and be much more deliberate about what I actually write down.
Weirdly, I also find it easier to look through and find things in a notebook vs a digital solution. In digital note taking systems, I end up searching key words, and finding a million different iterations of that key word. Again: white noise.
So even though it’s 2022, I’m still a pen and paper guy. Not broken, so I won’t be fixing it.
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