“Can we phrase this more positively?” It’s a question that many communication professionals find familiar. I also receive it occasionally as feedback on a text. The urge to present everything in a rosy light is strong, especially in a business context. But what if that apparent positivity actually weakens your message?
Organisations want to present themselves in the best light. No one wants to complain in their own communication. And in sectors with a strong awareness of reputation, such as industry, government, and federations, caution is sometimes culturally ingrained.
But that caution comes at a price. Those who always choose the safe, positive frame write texts that no one remembers. And more importantly: texts that no one believes.
What if avoiding your reader's reality leads to texts that no one remembers or, worse still, no one believes? This article reveals why by naming the negative you build a stronger connection with your audience.
Your reader knows that not everything can go well
Many b2b organisations still too often use communication as an extension of the marketing brochure. Everything is fine. Everything works. Everything is progressing.
The problem? Your reader knows that isn't true.
Communication managers, business leaders and policymakers live in a world of complex trade-offs, disappointing results and constantly changing circumstances. If you tell them that everything is rosy and sunny, they will disengage. Not because they are pessimists, but because they know the reality.
Positive communication feels safe for the writer, but often unbelievable for the reader, I experience.
The journalistic tension arc always works
Let me take you back to my training as a journalist. There, we learned a structure that has worked for decades: show the problem, explore the cause, offer perspective. Not as a trick, but as a way to take the reader along in a story that makes sense.
This tension arc is also the strongest model for content marketing and corporate communication. Because it is not advisable to start with the solution right away. No, you start where your reader is: in the middle of a problem, searching for a solution to a challenge or an answer to a question.
I will give you a fragment from a customer story that I wrote:
“Until (the company that solves the problem) was called in, warranty files were reviewed manually. That was quite a challenge, Bart points out: “We receive thousands of warranty requests each month. Our partners prepare these in good faith, but sometimes errors creep into the files or the possibilities are not maximally utilised. It is our task to identify these errors and implement corrections. In this way, we prevent certain warranty files from not being reimbursed by the factory.”
But the manual processing was time-consuming and not 100% foolproof. State-of-the-art technology should significantly enhance performance and quality, thought the aftersales department. Through discussions with a few technology providers, it quickly selected (the company that solves the problem). Ingrid: “We had the idea that data could help us check these files more efficiently. But how that should be realised? No, we did not have the expertise for that.”
Interesting for customer stories, use cases…
The negative works both in customer stories, use cases of sustainability in companies, and in texts for internal communication. And so I like to mention what went wrong, what the company is struggling with, or what difficulties it faced.
Further in this blog, you will read why.
Also in elevator pitches and call-to-actions, you can bring up the negative angle. Take a technology company that is launching a new logistics platform.
The classic, but weak approach: “Our platform makes your supply chain more efficient.”
The stronger approach: “Most supply chains today operate on emergency solutions and spreadsheets that no one understands anymore. Do you recognise that?”
Same product. A very different connection with the reader. Or better: only with that last approach do you establish a connection.
Four reasons why negative writing also works
Why does the negative approach work? Why is it effective to dare to name challenges and difficulties in your content marketing?
A laugh sounds all the more heavenly when there are also occasional tears. (AI helped me visualise this)
I will give you four reasons in this blog. Feel free to add more:
Reason 1. Our brain reacts faster to threats than to opportunities
That we react faster to threats is evolutionarily determined. For centuries, we had to be on our guard against wild animals. And this attention to negative impact also applies to how we read headlines. “Why most meetings are a waste of time” attracts more attention than: “How to make your meetings more efficient.” Same content. Different approach. The first activates. The second informs.
Reason 2. The reader recognises themselves in the struggle, not in the success
People find it easier to identify with doubts and difficulties than with someone else's triumphs. After all, we tend to weigh more heavily on what we find difficult. We feel less than the so-called successful others. And so... whoever manages to describe the pain point exactly as the reader feels it, gains their attention. And their trust. Pay attention to the right words and the right context. Everything plays a role in describing the struggle.
Reason 3. Whoever names the problem may offer the solution
I prefer to apply this principle in every communication process and ghostwriting project. When you acknowledge the pain before presenting the solution, you gain credibility. You show that you understand the situation. That you are not selling, but helping.
Reason 4. Contrast strengthens your message
Good news lands better after bad news. Just like a joke only works with a good setup. Those who only show the positive miss the power of contrast. The positive only becomes truly tangible when you have first shown the dark side.
The biggest pitfall in negative communication
Authenticity in communication does not mean telling everything. It means not concealing anything that the reader already knows.
The biggest pitfall is not the use of negative elements, but the use of them without purpose. Naming a problem and then doing nothing about it does not work either. The reader will only feel gloomy.
The art lies in the balance. Use the negative to make a connection. Use the positive to provide perspective. You acknowledge reality, followed by a clear direction. This combination makes content marketing credible and motivating.
Another pitfall: hiding the negative in a subordinate clause. For example: “Although we faced some challenges last year, we are proud of ...” That is not honesty. That is a rhetorical excuse.
Dare to truly put the problem at the centre, even when it feels uncomfortable. Because your readers? They will feel more at ease.
Writing positively is not a mistake
Positive writing is not a mistake. I am not saying that either. However, it becomes a problem when it becomes a way to bypass reality. Good communication acknowledges the tension, the doubt, and the problem, and then offers a clear, credible way forward.
Strategic advice: write from reality
My concise advice? Write from the reality of your reader. Forge a connection in the difficult moments. Yes, do that even if it sometimes clashes with the desire for only positive communication.
View your current communication approach through this lens. How much of your content starts with your reader's problem? How many texts dare to really name something that is uncomfortable? Where lies the real challenge for your readers? Start there. The rest will follow naturally.
