When new starters, contractors and even customers are required to start training with you, the interaction they have with your company will determine how long they want to stay and how long they will do business with you.

After all, first impressions aren’t easy to erase.

That’s why it is important with any staff or customer training that the training materials are written in friendly and welcoming language.

Yet, many times we see evidence of induction training manuals written in jargonistic corporate speak that seems keen to scold new starters for possible misdemeanors before they have even begun.

It is important that all training materials exclude negative terms such as ‘no’, ‘can’t’ and ‘don’t’.  Not only is it unfriendly, but negative language can often be hard for the brain to understand.

Take this sign, for example.  This was placed at the back of a cafe that I enjoy going to.  It has very friendly staff, great coffee and a queue to get in (not my favourite part).

While waiting for my table and walking around the neighbourhood, I found it.  My attention was grabbed for the wrong reason -  I really couldn’t understand it.

My first impression was that no deliveries were allowed.  That seemed strange to me, so I read on, only to be amazed that they were allowed but I couldn’t instantly grasp when.

It is quite amazing how the word ‘no’ at the start of a sentence can really throw you off the true meaning of a message.

So I have decided to  positivise the sign in an attempt to show you, dear reader, how easy it is to make communication messages easier to understand .  And yes, I know that positivise isn’t a real word, but I really like it.

All Deliveries Here

We accept deliveries:

Before 7am and after 6pm Mon-Fri &

Before 9am and after 6pm Saturday

Ah, isn’t that much better?   My brain feels happier now.

Of course, this sign isn’t for staff or even customers.  But as a customer I gathered that they didn’t like their delivery people very much.

However, the point of this example is how negative language can be so much harder for the brain to take in.  While using positive language makes messages so much easier to understand.

Perhaps, it’s time to positivise your training materials?