#33 – Does Swearing Make You Unprofessional

Does dropping an F-Bomb or two online make you unprofessional AF? Do you think it will repel your clients or cause you to lose credibility? Will it offend your mom?! Yes, it will most definitely offend your mom (I know it offends mine – I love you Mom!).

But listen up. The only thing I want for you is to show up as authentically yourself.

I want you to be unapologetic. I want to experience your personality. I want you to talk to your online audience the same way you talk to your in-person besties.

If swearing is something you like to do, why not?! But if it offends someone – it doesn’t matter and I’ll discuss why in today’s Wealthy Coach Podcast episode.

Part of being your authentic self involves niching down your client! If you’re stuck on who your niche is, you need to get my Define Your Money-Making Niche Workbook. Get it here: https://go.kendraperry.net/niche-workbook

Connect with me on Instagram: @kendraperryinc

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Does Swearing Make You Unprofessional

We are talking about swearing on social media online. If you followed me for any amount of time, you know that I got a bit of a potty mouth. I drop some F-bombs and S-bombs. I don’t have the cleanest of mouths, and I swear. That’s because that’s who I am. If you’re hanging out with me in person, I swear a little bit too much. I’m trying to work on it a little bit. Sometimes, it’s a bit inappropriate. I want to talk if swearing online makes you unprofessional because that’s the reason why a lot of people don’t do it. I’m not saying that you should do it. If you’re not someone who swears and you don’t like swearing, don’t do it, but maybe you do and you’re wondering, “What happens if I accidentally swear online on Instagram Live or Facebook Live? Does that make me unprofessional?” I am going to drop you a repurposed IGTV that I did. It was a while ago, but the content is still on point, it’s still great. I’m going to address that question, “Does saying fuck online make you unprofessional?” I hope you enjoy this episode.

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What the fuck is up? We’re going to be talking about does swearing in your marketing and your social media make you unprofessional? I’ve been told this a lot. If you follow me, you know I have a potty mouth, and I like to drop some fuck bombs every now and then. I don’t have a problem with it, but this wasn’t always the case. This wasn’t always true for me. I used to be self-conscious about it because I used to feel like it would make me feel unprofessional. I’ve been told that. I honestly receive at least one message a week that makes a comment on my swearing, tells me I have a dirty mouth, that says I should stop swearing because it makes me unprofessional. I don’t see it nearly as many as I get. I have my team delete them because I don’t think they’re helpful. They’re not constructive, they’re criticizing and I don’t even care. I don’t need to see them.

I want to talk about this because if you do swear, you’re going to offend some people. For this reason, this striving of when we are on our social media when we’re promoting a health business or whatever type of fitness business or whatever type of business it is, that we want to come across in a certain way. We want to come across as professional to our ideal clients so that they respect us, see us as experts, and don’t think that we’re something else. I’m here to tell you that swearing, if that’s what you choose to do, or maybe if that’s how you talk, does not make you unprofessional. It might make some people perceive you that way, but I don’t think you should care. What I believe about marketing, putting yourself out there and talking to your ideal client is that you should talk to that person the way you would talk with your family, friends, with the people that you hang out with the most. I believe that you should be your most authentic self.

It’s important to show your personality. People want to see the real you. They don’t want to see the polished professional version of you that isn’t really you. If you’re someone who would drop an F-bomb in conversation or say ‘shit’ sometimes, then I think that’s how you should speak in your marketing because you want people to connect with you. Even if you don’t swear, even if you are like, “I’m not going to swear. I’m not going to stand the F-bombs,” people will find another reason to criticize you.

When you’re online, when you’re putting yourself out there in front of people, you’re going to offend some people. Not everyone is going to like you. Because of this, no matter how you act, no matter how professional you try to be, you’re going to get flak from people. People are going to criticize you. People are going to say mean things. People are going to put you down. They’re going to say comments that throw you off. It is going to happen. There is no way around it. You might as well be out there being yourself.

I personally don’t think the fact that I swear in the free content that I spend time producing and putting out there is a big deal. If it is a big deal, I don’t think those people should be following me because they wouldn’t like me in real life because I like to say fuck, shit and I like to swear. That’s how I like to express myself, that is my choice. The content I’m putting out there, no one is paying for it. I am putting it out for free. It is a value pack. There is so much substance to it. The way I choose to deliver it is my choice. Even if I chose to deliver it in a different way where I didn’t swear or maybe I talked a little differently, people would criticize me for something else.

I don’t think swearing makes you unprofessional. Some people will perceive it as that, but that’s their perception. That’s their shit. That’s whatever belief or emotion that they have tied to that word that has nothing to do with you. If that’s not you, if you don’t have that belief or emotion tied to the word and you want to say ‘fuck’ sometimes, go for it because I think, as a marketer, you have to be incredibly genuine, be yourself and show your personality. If you talk a certain way, that’s how you should talk in your marketing, on Instagram Stories, on Facebook, on IGTV. You should be out there talking like you would normally talk and providing value because whether you choose to keep it clean or not, people are going to criticize you no matter what. You might as well go out there, be yourself and ignore those comments because they will come and you need to ignore them.

It’s such a hot topic in my business because in the past couple of years, I’ve decided that I’m not going to show up on social media in my business or anywhere of doing anything other than being me and presenting myself as my personality so that people feel like they know me. Exactly how I’m coming to you now, if you hang out with me in person, I would be a lot like this. That’s important for me. That’s what people are craving. They want real human connection. They want to feel like they’re hanging out with you as if they could be your friend. If you can’t create that connection, you can’t do that with your following if you’re not yourself. Be yourself and whatever that is, whoever you want to talk to, whether it’s swearing or maybe you don’t swear at all, maybe you don’t like it. It’s not who you are, then don’t do it.

It’s all about being who you are, being your true genuine self and putting that across. I don’t want to sit here, neuter myself, censor myself, and try to stop from saying certain things that I say all the time just because it might offend someone. I don’t care. If you don’t like my free content, if you don’t like the stuff I’m putting out there to help your business, then I’m not for you and that’s okay. It’s not a big deal. Not everyone is going to like you. Not everyone likes you. It’s not possible. I’m not trying to please, I’m trying to be myself, and the people who are into it are into it. The people who are not, are not. That’s what I wanted to hop on and talk about because it is a hot topic. This is the most consistent criticism I get online, but it’s something I’m not going to change because it’s who I am. I like to express myself with swear words, and I don’t have a problem with that.

If people don’t like it, I think they need to go follow someone else. I’m not the person for them. All the best to them. It’s cool, I’m okay with it. Let me know your thoughts on this because I’d like to know how you feel about people you look up to or people who you aspire to be like if they swear. Would that turn you off their content? If you love the content someone was giving you and then they started swearing, would that be enough to have you stop following them? Let me know, or do you not care? Do you just care about the value of the content? Let me know, do you swear? If you swear, do you feel comfortable doing it in your marketing? Let’s talk about this. Let’s start a conversation because it’s a very interesting conversation.