This Tiny Word Can Do Wonders
for Your Work

The way you describe your organization or business defines how people connect to it – or don’t. Your word choice matters, even down to what pronoun you use.

You may be thinking, “But we don’t have a choice; an organization is an abstract noun, so grammatically we have to use it.”

Not so.

An organization is also a group of people. As a member of the group, you can use the pronouns we, our, and us. Or if you are a solopreneur, you can use I and me.

Why does it matter? Consider the following fictional example:

Herbs to Heal the World offers affordable herbal remedies in the inner city, and its certified herbalist will help you find just what you need. It is also dedicated to spreading research that shows herbal remedies work and are often much healthier than pharmaceuticals.

Herbs to Heal the World offers affordable herbal remedies in the inner city, and our certified herbalist will help you find just what you need. We are also dedicated to spreading research that shows herbal remedies work and are often much healthier than pharmaceuticals.

Notice that the first example makes Herbs to Heal the World feel like a lifeless object doing its work autonomously. The organization sounds almost like a machine, so you can’t feel anything like a warm connection to it. The second example, on the other hand, gives the impression of a group of caring people helping others. You can easily imagine going to them and receiving warm assistance. The simple choice of pronoun completely changes how the reader responds to the writing and to the business.