1 min lesson
Kill the words that trip the BS detector
Name the key items in "Kill the words that trip the BS detector", then explain why each one matters.
Step 1 of 2
Kill the words that trip the BS detector
- Unverifiable superlatives: “fastest,” “smartest,” “revolutionary,” “magical.” If you can't prove it in a demo, cut it.
- Abstract benefit-speak: “boosts productivity,” “empowers teams.” Replace with the specific task that got shorter.
- Buzzword stacking: “AI-powered next-gen developer platform.” Engineers translate this to “nothing concrete here.”
Run your draft through the BS-detector test
Read each sentence and ask: could a developer disprove this in a five-minute session? If yes, it's a claim worth making. If the sentence survives only because it means nothing, delete it. The strongest developer copy is the copy most exposed to being checked.
Interview move
On the take-home or the demo-back, narrate a before/after workflow instead of a feature tour. Walk the panel from the painful version to the diff-in-front-of-you version, then name the mechanism. Showing you lead with the developer's problem is the signal the JD is testing for.