You sabi the thing well. You get proof too: people don pay for am, or you don do am tey reach say the hard parts don quiet. Then somebody for party ask wetin you dey do, and you hear your own mouth dey talk “ah, e no be anything sef, na just small side thing”, while the sentence still dey comot for your mouth.
That gap no be confidence problem wey you must solve before dem allow you talk. Na sentence problem, and person fit write sentence ahead of time. One version of the answer dey wey completely true, wey take like eight seconds to talk, wey no dey sell anything to anybody, and wey go leave the other person with clear picture and one obvious next question. Write am once and you go dey use am for years, for party, for caption, for phone, and for the first line of every message wey you send to person wey fit buy.
Why e dey sweet-pain me to talk about my own work?
Because you dey try to claim instead of to tell, and claim na performance wey you go now dey struggle to maintain. To tell na to describe object wey already dey exist, and almost nobody dey feel awkward to describe object.
Look the difference for two sentences about the same business. “I be passionate creator wey dey build beautiful heirloom pieces wey dey tell story” na claim, and e dey ask the listener to agree with judgment before dem sabi even one fact. “I dey make leather work bags, mostly for people wey dey ride bicycle go office, dem dey around 180 dollars” na description. The second one easier to talk, easier to hear, and e hard well well to feel shame about am, because nothing dey inside am wey person fit catch you on top.
Research dey on the move wey most of us dey reach for instead. Sezer, Gino and Norton study humblebragging, where person wrap boast inside complaint or inside fake modesty, across seven studies, and dem find say e dey work less than plain straight bragging every time: e reduce how much people like the speaker and how competent dem judge am to be. The self-deprecating wrapper wey we dey add to make claim survivable dey do the opposite of wetin we hope for. Plain no be only say e comfortable pass. E dey perform better.
The sentence, wetin exactly e be?
Three parts, for this order: wetin e be, who e be for, and how much e cost. No adjective about quality, no origin story, no mission statement.
Six real examples:
- “I dey make ceramic planters, mostly for people wey dey kill plant inside plastic pot. Dem be 40 to 90 dollars.”
- “I dey do bookkeeping for small building firms, so that the oga no go dey do invoice by eleven for night. About 300 a month.”
- “I dey snap food for restaurant menu. Half day na 600 dollars and you go get around thirty images.”
- “I dey fix and resell old bicycle. Dem be 150 to 400 and dem don service dem.”
- “I dey write the product pages for shops wey get good products but bad words. Usually 250 per page.”
- “I dey teach guitar to adults wey stop am when dem be teenager. Thirty five per hour, for my place or online.”
Every single one of dem carry number inside. The price no be separate awkward conversation wey you go get later, na part of the description, e dey tell the listener sharp sharp whether dem be the customer, and to put am inside na the fastest way to stop to feel like say you dey hide something. Keep one version wey no get price for the times wey you truly no dey sell, and use the full one everywhere else.
Which words I suppose delete?
“Just” and “kind of”, every single time, plus any word wey person go need to dey inside your trade before dem understand. Those deletions dey do pass any amount of rehearsing for how the sentence go land.
“I just dey make small candles kind of for the side” carry whole apology inside, and the person wey you dey talk to go match the framing wey you hand dem. Talk say you dey make candles and dem go ask which kind. Talk say you just dey make small, and dem go say “na nice one” and turn to the person for their left. Na you teach dem how much to care.
The jargon problem separate and e cost the same. Research from the Nielsen Norman Group find say even expert readers prefer plain language, so to simplify no mean say you dey talk down to anybody, e mean say more people dey understand you at once. If your sentence carry word wey you learn for work, swap am for the word wey your first customer use when dem describe the same thing back to you.
Practical edge dey for this one too. The Federal Trade Commission guidance for small business na say claim about wetin product dey do must be true and evidence must back am. Description dey always defensible. “Best” no dey.
After I talk am, wetin I go do?
Stop to talk. The sentence don finish, and the next move belong to the other person, wey go almost always take am.
Na this part people no fit do and na this part dey make the whole thing work. The urge after you talk something true and plain about your own work na to fill the space: to add the caveat, the story of how you enter am, the reassurance say you never dey make plenty money from am. Every one of those additions dey hand back exactly wetin the sentence just give you.
The silence no empty. Na the other person dey decide to ask you question. Their question worth pass anything wey you for talk inside the gap, because e dey tell you wetin dem actually care about, and now una dey hold conversation instead of you dey deliver pitch. Na the same muscle dey make the price conversation survivable later, when number dey hang for air and the temptation na to explain am away before anybody even complain.
How I go practice this without practicing on myself?
Describe another person work out loud first, for public, and name exactly wetin dem do. The sentence dey easy when e concern another person, na the same muscle, and for the person wey you dey describe e worth plenty pass wetin e cost you.
Do am specific or no bother. “Her work amazing” na noise and everybody don receive am before. “She rebuild the ordering page for the bakery for corner and their weekend orders double” na sentence wey somebody fit repeat inside meeting wey you go never attend. Vague praise na feeling. Specific public commendation na evidence, and evidence dey travel by itself.
Three ways to do am this week, and none of dem take pass one minute:
- Talk wetin somebody do, call their name, inside room where people wey fit hire dem dey listen.
- Write the one-sentence version of another maker work inside caption, and tag dem inside am.
- When somebody ask you for recommendation, give the description instead of the adjective: wetin dem dey make, who e be for, how much e cost.
Then notice wetin just happen to your own sentence. You build that exact structure for another person, out loud, with zero shame, wey mean say the structure no be the problem at all. Talk your own the same way.
The three versions to keep ready
Write your sentence down while e still fresh, then make three versions of am and keep dem somewhere wey you fit find dem again.
The caption version, wey fit drop the price if the price already dey on the page, but wey must keep the “who e be for”. The stranger version, all three parts, wey you talk out loud for normal speed. And the version for your mama, or whoever for your life wey dey introduce you wrongly, short reach say dem fit repeat am correct to somebody for their own party.
Talk each one out loud once now, on your own, before you need am. Sentence wey you never talk before dey sound like lie for your own mouth the first time, and the first time no suppose be in front of person wey for don be customer. Talk am four times and e go turn ordinary, wey na exactly wetin you want. You no dey try to sound impressive. You dey try make more people understand you correctly, faster, so that the ones wey want wetin you dey make go fit hear say na you dey make am.
Sources
- Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, Humblebragging: A Distinct and Ineffective Self-Presentation Strategy
- Nielsen Norman Group, Plain Language Is for Everyone, Even Experts
- Federal Trade Commission, Advertising FAQ's: A Guide for Small Business