Swearing In Your Marketing

Is it okay to say fuck in your content? Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. I am Dan from millennialmotivator.ca, helping you learn how to create, engage, and inspire. If you're new to the channel, go ahead and click that subscribe button down there, the little bell next to it. You'll get notified when my next video goes live. Putting out videos here Monday through Saturday, all year long. Today what we're talking about is what kind of language is okay in your content, especially for business, small business. Now this is a topic that is really taking off. We see all kinds of books coming out that have this in the title. It's on the, it's on the COVID We hear guys like Gary Vee out there dropping this left, right, and center. Now we've got politicians out there using this and the question has become, is this still a social faux pas? Is it generally not accepted? Is it unprofessional? Or can it be tolerated? Is it acceptable? And if so, what's the reasoning behind it? So let's get down to it. First and foremost, as you guys will note, I started off this video without even saying the word. Okay, for me, this has two different approaches to it. There are people that are perfectly comfortable with it. There are people that are not. So first, where does this tension come from? Well, obviously most of us growing up were taught there are certain words you don't say and certain words you can say. On top of that, to go even further, we were taught that certain positions in society, uh, business owner, president, police officer, these types of people that hold status, power, authority should act in a manner that is deemed socially acceptable for that. Somebody that's a leader, uh, a role model in many ways, should they be using language like this? Now, here, here's the reality: times change. Language that would have been appropriate at one point is now considered outdated. Let's say. If you consider Old English, for example, where you've got nobility using only certain types of words in certain ways, and they would never speak in a guttural way, out of just respect for their position and expectations of who they are. These days, though, it seems to be that people care less about how you say what you say, and more about why you're saying it, what the meaning is behind it, and how it sticks. So we have to keep that in mind. This isn't something new where language has evolved to a different point. If we look back over time, people being more colloquial in how they speak, especially those who hold high position, has grown in favor in many ways. Consider Obama, for example. He was considered, in many ways, to be a phenomenal speaker on the grounds that he was relatable. People could hear what he was saying, they could relate to him better, and found him to be a relatable president. Now, where you stand on Obama doesn't matter, The reality is this: very few people took exception to his language. Now, that being said, there are still obviously clear lines. We have some great audio clips from Trump where people are clearly offended, and for good reason. The language that he uses pushes it too far. People feel that it is sexist, or racist, or homophobic. Clearly, there are still lines that are drawn. So, if the lines have moved, how far, and why? Let's go to the next point. All right, knowing that the lines have moved, then, How do we determine whether or not it's appropriate to use profanity in our books, in our podcasts, our content, in our business life, in our workshops, in our keynotes? When is it appropriate and when is it not? And I think it really boils down to 2 factors. One, is it essential? And what I mean by essential is this. For a long time, the standard was this. There's no profanity that has to be used that couldn't be better elaborated on using other words. And this is the old go-to, okay? This is Politician 101. This is Public Speaker 101. You need not use profanity because there is a better alternative. Now, that being said, there are many, many, many circumstances where using profanity can actually be quite genuine. It's not disingenuous. You're not using it as a filler word. It's there to provoke, and it's there to embody a specific emotion that you're trying to convey in the message. It does make people stand up and take note because it is a social faux pas. And so when you have books like Unf Yourself, or you watch Gary Vee video and he drops an F-bomb in front of a school classroom of children, people go, holy cow, why did he do that? And it causes you to light up and take notes. So that would be my first one, is, is it essential? Is it a word that had to be used in the context you used it when you used it? If the answer is yes, okay, for me I would move on to the second one. And this, this is really the major qualif— qualifier for me here. The first one can be give or take depending on the situation. For me, the big one is, is it natural? Is the use of profanity natural to you? And this may sound like a silly qualifier, but the reality is this. I'm a father of 7. I've created content on Twitch, YouTube. I've created content for large companies. I've spoke— I speak publicly as a keynote speaker. The reality is this. When I speak, I don't use profanity. Why? In my day-to-day, I don't use profanity. It's just not something I do. I'm not familiar with it. It's not something I use regularly. It's not something I would ever use for a client. It just doesn't come naturally. And you can tell that just in my using things like F-word and damn and shoot. I don't swear. I just don't do it. And so for me to use that in a keynote or in one of my books or in one of my speeches, in one of my podcasts, it's gonna come across as awkward, disingenuous, and people are gonna know that I'm forcing it in there. And the reality is, It's detrimental to do that because the second you're not being authentic in the content you're creating is the second you take it away from your audience. People want to know that you're being legitimate in what you're doing. And if you're being disingenuous and just doing this because it's the latest buzz, the latest craze, the latest fad, you're gonna lose people. The message is gonna get lost, or you're gonna lose people's engagement. They're not gonna be interested. That's key. Now you look at the people that use the, the profanity regularly, and The reality is, to tune into a GaryVee podcast or to tune into a GaryVee YouTube video and not hear it would almost seem disingenuous. You know what I mean? You're expecting it at this point. You expect when he gets revved up and he's geared up and he's ready to go, that F-bomb's gonna drop. It's gonna come. It's a reality. People expect it. Not only do they expect it, they appreciate it when it comes, because you can tell that he's reached that point where he's stoked about what he's talking about. He's got a genuine passion for what he's saying. And it comes out naturally. It seems like it's supposed to be in the sentence, it's part of the sentence. Now, that being said, I understand that this is a touchy topic, so I'd love to hear from you guys in the comments down below. What do you think? Is it appropriate? Is it still taboo? Are there certain circumstances where it can be used? Is it for everybody? Or maybe it's just for a select few. Really guys, I'm not the authority on the subject, but these are my thoughts. One, it's gotta be in context. You can't just sit there and use it as a filler word, whatever the profanity is. And number 2, it's gotta feel genuine. It just has to be genuinely something that you do regularly in your language. I'm not— I am not by any means encouraging you to start using profanity naturally so it comes across natural in your marketing. I am saying, however, if you are somebody that naturally uses that type of language, for you to try to shut that down or pull it back is gonna take away from your focus on the message that you're trying to deliver. So that's it. That's my opinion, guys. Let me know down below what you think. Is it okay to use profanity in your marketing? Let me know.