In the last 12 months, Message House has conducted more focus groups than ever before, covering a wide range of sectors, clients and objectives. These hundreds of hours across the moderating table and behind the one-way glass offer a fantastic viewpoint on the patterns that emerge in response to communications.

Certain phrases crop up across projects and groups, and become familiar companions that I confess to listening out for – my notes becoming almost like a buzzword bingo scorecard as I pick them out for later reflection.

A personal favourite of mine, and one I’m hearing from respondents more and more, is the term “wishy-washy”.

Not a phrase I feel comes up in regular conversation, but one respondents consistently gravitate towards when they have long, unspecific and non-committal messaging put in front of them.

It is illustrative of an important learning about message testing. In the fairly cynical world we live in, lengthy explanations and vague generalities in corporate communications aren’t viewed neutrally. They’re a negative. People tend to view communications ‘padding’ as brands being evasive, using lots of words because they are trying to avoid saying the obvious truth.

And when sat in focus groups, audiences, from Gen Pop to Opinion Elites, will call out a hedged platitude.

So, what does a message need to do to avoid a mark on my bingo score card?

It’s a really simple formula - be punchy, clear and specific, with a simple point and tangible evidence. Talk about what you’ve done, the commitments you’ve made, not what you plan to do in the future. Avoid talking about what ‘could’ happen, speak with confidence, and your comms will by their very nature be more credible and feel more transparent.