Zapier, an 8o-person startup that automates workflow between different applications, just started offering a “de-location package” for new employees in which they’ll reimburse up to $10,000 to help new hires currently living in the San Francisco Bay area relocate. To anywhere.
The initiative is innovative (it’s gotten some press). It makes sense for Zapier (they’re a 100% remote company). But what struck me was the utter lack of business-speak in the explanation—which was written by the company’s co-founder and CEO. Even the fine print reads like human communication that hasn’t been overly formalized by lawyers and PR reps.
“Some fine print: The $10,000 will be a reimbursement for moving expenses you incur in the first three months while working at Zapier. We also ask you stick around Zapier for at least a year. We want to make a commitment to you, so we think it’s fair you do the same. Right now we’re limiting this to folks wanting to make the move away from the Bay Area. We know other cities are expensive to live in too, but this is an experiment for us so we want to see how it goes before expanding the program.”
We all communicate in different voices—even in writing—depending on who we’re communicating with. The email you send to your best friend won’t sound the same as the one you send to your high school principal. Great communicators understand who their audience is and proceed accordingly.
But whether you’re writing an email, a memo, new website copy, or a college essay, if you strip out the voice, delete the personality, and add unnecessary formality, what you’ll be left with is:
1. Sentences that you (and pretty much anyone else) would never say out loud to another person.
2. Bad writing.
When in doubt, communicate like a human. Choose your words. And write like you’re talking to an audience of one.