The Problem with Cute - Episode 93

https://linktr.ee/KarriKennedy

I hear the word cute approximately 500 times every time I open the Whatnot app. And I get it — it’s easy, it’s safe, it rolls right off the tongue. But here’s the truth: cute has stopped meaning anything. Buyers’ brains tune it out completely.

In this episode I break down why overused words lose their power, where “cute” actually came from, and how to swap in language that makes people feel something. Because on Whatnot, feeling something is what makes people buy something.

I’m giving you a full master word list by category and a sticky note challenge you can use tonight. Get your paper and pen.

#WhatnotSeller #WhatnotLive #LiveSelling #LiveSellerTips #SellingOnWhatnotApp #WhatnotCommunity #ResellTips #ThriftedFinds #VintageSeller #JewelrySeller #SellerEducation #WordsThatSell #LiveStreamSelling #SellerPodcast #WhyNotWhatnotPodcast #KarriKennedy

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Hey there guys. I hope everybody is doing really well. Um, today I am coming to talk to you about the overuse of the word cute on the Whatnot app. And I'm sure it's on other apps too. But guys, I was just on the platform. I was scrolling and I hear the word cute, cute, cute. It has become so overused and it has lost any real value because of that. And you're not doing your shop service when you just constantly repeat the same word, you know, over and over again. It's not helping you to think and describe said item. And it's not helping your buyer to visualize and think of different scenarios or see the details, whatever, because all you're doing is holding up a t-shirt or a hat or a purse or a picture or whatever it is, and saying, Isn't it cute? Or isn't she cute? Which I hate that too. The pronoun of making a piece of fabric a girl or a boy, whatever. Um, but that I digress. So think about this, guys. When you say something over and over and over again, it loses its value. Okay. It really just loses its value. And I think that's one of the big issues is that it's lost its value. And then the second one is I feel like you're really missing opportunities to hammer and describe what it is. And so, um, guys, you know, I'm a former teacher and director and principal. I had a classical education uh school. And so I guess maybe I'm a little more sensitive to it than other people. Maybe you just hear it and move on. But I promise you there are other words you can use. And that is why I am bringing that here. Okay, so um, let's just talk about what happens to your brains real quick when something stops registering it. It's called semantic satiation, and it basically means you lose the value of the word, it just becomes noise, like background noise. There's not anything really descriptive with the word cute, you have to actually hold on to a meaning of something else with that to give it something. Okay. So um think it about think about it this way. Um, basically, if you went up to somebody all day, like your boss at work, and you said, You look nice, you look nice, you look nice. 30 days in a row, you tell your boss that they look nice. Even your your boss or somebody who really you know takes pride in their you know, apparel and what she's wearing or whatever, would be like, all she ever does is say it looks nice. She's not complimenting on what part of my outfit looks nice, right? She's not saying that my makeup looks good or my hair looks good or my scarf or my shoes or whatever. She's literally saying the same words day after day, you look nice. It ends up just being something that just goes over your head now because you're there's not any real meaning with it. I think you guys are understanding what I'm saying. But you could say something like, Oh my gosh, that shirt looks amazing on you, or boy, your eye makeup is just terrific today. Your eyes sparkle so much, or whatever. You get the idea. Because what vivid language does is it helps you imagine and see more clearly what you're trying to convey. It sticks, it lands, and it makes people feel something other than oh, your alpha looks nice, or you know, you look cute. Um, so if you guys understand, let me know. Yes, give me a thumbs up. You're like, yes, we understand, Carrie. Um, anyways, we've talked about this in the past is setting the room, you know, setting the vibe, setting the temperature in your room. And so if you're constantly on repeat mode of cute, cute, cute, and every, you know, three times out of five when you're holding up a shirt, you're saying it's cute, you're just making your room very lukewarm. But if you can bring it up a notch with some of these words, which by the way, go get a pad, a paper, and a pen if you're serious and you want some of these, um, and write them down. And maybe what you can do is is just try to say, you know, three new words a show or something. You know, put the the list up where you can see it close to your camera, up in like a little picture frame or up, you know, taped to a wall somewhere where you can look up and try to say them. Or maybe if you have a certain item, you know, maybe you you start there with your item, grab your item and think about what you can how you can describe it, other than just picking it up and saying on repeat, cute. This is going to help your brain, honestly, it because you're going to be thinking harder and making your brain work harder to describe something, and it's gonna help them get a better visualization. So, this is what I I'm gonna say here. Um, first of all, I have a book, it's called The Synonym Finder. It was in my school, my kids used it for reports. It's an awesome book. You can basically go look up anything in this synonym finder. Um, let me tell you, it's right next to me. So who is it? It's uh gosh, it's huge. Who wrote this book? It's a $30 book, and I don't know, it says, Oh, I don't know. It's Rodell Press, but you can find it online if you guys want a synonym finder. Anyways, it's basically from back in the 1700s when they made this. So this is a reprint, and um, you know, back in the day, you should do a deep dive. It's really fun going to look at how the dictionary was made. There's even movies on it. I won't, I I regress, but, anyways, it's very cool how words are put together. But just to get you started on this and stick with me if you're interested in this, if not, no worries. The word cute didn't originally mean attractive, the word comes from the word a cute, which means sharp, you know, clever along those ways, right? But back in the 1700s, if you called something cute, you were taught like, oh, look at the kid, and you'd say, Oh, you're so cute, that meant they're so clever or even cunning, right? Um, as in that's a cute little trick you pulled over there, like that. And then over time, the word got softer and it got tinier, and it went from meaning this, you know, oh, you're so clever, to being, you know, cute, uh pretty, sweet, whatever. And then it got used so much, which is what we're doing right now, that it barely means anything. It it really has lost its edge, it got watered down because of overuse. Okay, so here's the thing. Um I'm gonna go through categories and give you some words to describe different kinds of cute, I think that you guys are doing because you have encompassed a lot of words into this one word. Okay, so I have broken it up and I've I've given you different categories. So if you take your pen and paper, you only write down the ones that you actually think you're gonna use. Obviously, you don't want words that you're not gonna use. And and I think it also depends on the the vibe of your show and what how you're feeling if you're doing a raid train, if there's a specific theme. There's so many different options. There's no way I could, you know, pull out different categories and do this, it would take forever because there's way too many. So, anyways, long story short, you write down what you think is important that you'll use and that sounds good to you, and start looking at your items. Start trying to find descriptive words. And I am just doing this for words other than cute. I could do this for all other kinds of words as well. You you get the point. Okay, so here we go. The first category is pretty and visually appealing. I did this one because this is really the clothing, jewelry, purses, hats, sunglasses, anything that you wear in those categories is where I hear these a lot. So I just got a couple, okay. So darling, lovely, fetching, which is kind of I don't know, fetching to me is a hard one. Um, but dainty, charming, um, graceful, becoming so you get the idea, okay? So instead of saying, oh, this is so cute, you could say, guys, this is absolutely darling. Look at the fringe on this cap. See how the little white lace trim covers this edge, whatever, you get the idea. So instead of saying, Oh, look at this hat, it's so cute, you're now saying it's absolutely darling, and then you're telling them something about it. Okay. So that's what I want you to do. Not only change the word cute, but also give some description about what it is and why you're selling it and why they need it, right? That's the thing. You never go to a used car salesman or car salesman in general, and they say, Oh, here it has all these things, da-da-da-da-da. If you're with a really good car salesman, which actually I sold used cars back when I was like 18, 19 years old, fun fact. Um, what they're gonna do is use imagery to say, can you imagine yourself behind this wheel of this nice car? And they use the word imagine a lot if you're if you're talking to a good car salesman, because they want you to visualize yourself in that car, right? So think about that. You know, you want these people to visualize this item on their body or in their home. You get the idea. Okay, the next category is eye-catching or striking, okay? Um, these just carry more weights, okay? So here it is it's captivating, stunning, breathtaking, head-turning, heart-stopping, electric or magnetic. Um, I know you some of you guys are thinking, you know, oh gosh, what am I gonna sell that has, you know, electric or magnetic, but you can use those as adjectives before whatever word it is, right? So, I mean, this is an electric blue necklace. You you see what I'm saying? You're adding an adjective to what you're describing, okay? So if it's a category, see, I don't know all the categories, guys, but you get the idea. So I think I just said captivating, stunning, breathtaking, head turning, heart stopping. I mean, um, eye-catching is one that you could use. So um, I think that that's really good. Okay, the next cat, uh wait, hold on. I put it, what did I put in here? Um, I do have I did write some of these words down. Um, basically, uh, you you can't call everything that, right? Um, if you have a mug in your hand or something, you're you're not gonna go, oh, it's a heart-stopping mug. You have to use it in the appropriate place, right? So that's what I put in my notes. Okay, category three, small and sweet. This is for like jewelry sellers or miniature collectors or tiny little things. You can say something is precious or petite or itty bitty or pint-sized instead of just saying it's cute, because half the time you're thinking that the word that describes something small is cute, and it may very well be cute, guys, but try to come up with something else, right? Um, uh if it's if it's little, you could say it's an absolutely itty bitty, you know, adorable figure. You you get the idea. Okay. Category four is personality and spunk. This is um a category Zha Jacobor would have used basically, but these are for interesting words that I came up with. The first one is whimsical, then kitschy, quirky, cheeky, sassy, saucy, vivacious, bodacious, and fantabulous. I don't even know if fantabulous is a real word, but I hear people say it. I've said it in my class, you know, whatever. But like if you're putting on a 1970s uh I don't know, dress and you're holding it up, and you can say, hey ladies, you bodacious babes out there who have the you know, dub big chest. Remember, these these are from the 70s and it's gonna fit you differently, whatever. But you you get it, you know. You can say, Oh, that's so ja gabore. Just put some spunk in it, you know. Oh, this is a whimsical little whatever, this is a kitschy little um whatever. You get the idea. We're just trying to come up with some different words that you can get out of your mouth, other than the word cute, okay. The next one is um nostalgic kind of type things. You can say it's retro, it's timeless, it's classic, it's storybook, old world, um, heirloom quality. You can say it's quaint or sentimental, but the thing is you're saying something that is giving them a visualization. So, like when I say it's classic or I say it's old world, you're getting an idea of what that looks like, right? You're getting people to have that feeling connection with the item. And I think that's very different. And of course, some of you are like, none of this matters to me at all because I'm selling my stuff super fast. I run five seconds, whatever. That's fine. If you want to do that and not use any words, that's fine. There's an amazing um candy seller on the app, and I swear all they do is go 24-7 selling boxes of candy in five seconds, and it's just boom, boom, boom. They're not describing the candy, they're not talking about what it tastes like, whatever, but they're kicking ass, and that's fine too. You don't have to do any of this. If you don't want to, don't. But I'm thinking that if you are selling your stuff at 15 to 30 seconds and you are describing, you're gonna be leveling up if you go and really start thinking of your words, okay? Um, what's what else did I have? Okay, so these are along the the same lines. This is like old Hollywood glamour type kind of thing. This is the you can use a lot of these in a lot of different categories, okay? Um, ravishing, smashing, divine, magnificent, fabulous, sensational, spectacular, show stopping, dazzling, glorious. One of my favorite sellers on here, I'm not gonna say who it is right now, um, says, Oh, it's just scrumptious, darling, um, exquisite. Um, you get the idea. Okay. So instead of saying, hey guys, look at this really cute brooch, you would say, look at this spectacular brooch. It's just got an amazing detail and look at the magnificent, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You get the idea. Hopefully, this is clicking with some of you. Um, okay, the next one is category seven. This is stylish and polished kind of words. Um, you can say it's snazzy or um swanky or sophisticated or chic or refined. You get the idea. Okay. Um, the next one is interesting items. You can say it's fascinating. Um, if you're talking about a book, you could say it's compelling or whatever. Mesmerizing, if you're showing something that's interesting and has a lot of um, there's even artwork on this platform, guys. If you haven't looked it up, go check it out. Um, you could say um remarkable, extraordinary. One of my favorite ones that I love is one of a kind, because when you say something is one of a kind, that means nobody else has it. That is it. I I love that one. Um, it's actually four words together with little dashes, one of a kind, but you get the point. Um, those are for things that are unusual finds, you know, conversational pieces, things that are extraordinary and fascinating, things that people thrift all the time and never see, you know, in the wild, that kind of thing. Okay, then here's a few other ones. I I just these are vintage and just random, interesting ones. Okay. Um, I put the bee's knees. It that's an old saying, and I think a lot of people in the vintage category would know that one. You could say something is groovy or far out or fab or nifty or keen, um, peachy, bodacious. You get the idea. So, what I'm saying is you're taking whatever you're holding up and showing and you're giving it some description. I should probably walk around here and um find, you know, find some things and do that. Maybe I'll do that at the end of the show. I probably will. Give me a second. Okay, so um, here's the other thing. People mirror the language of whoever is leading the room, right? It's called linguistic mirroring, okay. And it's it's really an actual thing. You guys can go look this up, okay? Um, so teachers, coaches, everybody in the world of um education, especially understands this. Um, so if you go into like a Spanish classroom and the teacher only allows you to speak Spanish, well, obviously you've got to get on board, but it's the same kind of thing. Um, if you say cute all day long, then the people in your chat are gonna say, Oh, isn't that cute back at you? As your model say it, everybody will say it. And then you're really overwatering this, right? Like if you put too much water in a drink, you're what are you doing? You're watering, I mean, too many ice cubes. Sorry, too many ice cubes in a drink, you're literally watering it down. That's why when you go to the bar and you get a whiskey and you say whiskey neat, it means no ice because they want to be able to taste all the flavor and they don't want it watered down. And what is happening here is you guys are watering down your language. Everybody's starting to feel for feel bored and frustrated, okay? But, and there's a ton of people on here. I wish I had written a list of all the amazing speakers that do what I'm talking about with this language, and they're really descriptive. And also, when you're doing the description, just side note, whoop squirrel, also think about how you're giving that, right? Like, you're not gonna hold up your item. Here, I'm holding up my mug, like you guys can see it. Um, you don't hold it up and go, isn't this a bodacious whatever? You have to have the energy behind it as well, right? So you need to be vivid and specific, and you have to be excited about what you're talking about, right? And then other people will also feel that. We've talked about this in the room. Your energy is going to elevate with their energy, and then it's going to come back and forth, right? So if you get on there, I saw this lady uh sidetrack again. I saw this lady the other day. Her hair was totally messed up. Her lighting in her room was terrible. And I mean, honestly, you don't know who she is, so I can say this, but like the personality of a dirty dish rag. I mean, she just did nothing. And she was, I was like, how do you expect anybody to stay in the room? I think there was two to four people in the room at all times, and she couldn't get past that. And I was like, that's because you're not thinking about your presentation or anything. She thinks, I think I'm guessing here that if she just holds up an item that that's going to be good enough. And I don't think so. You're trying to convince the people that the item that you have is something that they want, it's worthy of a purchase, it's worthy of their time and attention and good words. It's worthy, right? So you think about guys, how not just you're you're saying these words, but you're providing exciting attitude behind it, okay? And keeping that energy up. Um, and you know, there's some people on this platform, and I don't even know how the hell they do it. I well, I do. They're all on monsters and energy drinks. I give kid you not. I think the overuse of energy drinks with sellers. on this platform is insane. I I worry about their I wonder I I do I worry about their sleep and their health effects but hey everybody's an adult you guys get to decide yourselves but I really think that too much energy drinks is a bad thing. I think you need to, you know, whatever. Um okay so um what else I had a couple notes in here. So the energy is going to keep people watching that energy is going to bring more people in there. You're going to have a community and then you're going to have regular shows and then you're going to keep bomb diggity bomb and you're not going to just be there going here's this shirt isn't it cute you get the point. Okay so here's your homework um before and I actually have a list and I'm going to grab a couple things. I'm in my room right now and I'm going to grab a few things and I'm going to try to describe them a little bit better. Okay. So get a sticky note and write down five words before your next show out of the words that I'm going to give you and I've given you some already if you've already started writing words down and try to use them, you know, at least those five words in your next show or grab five items and put a few descriptive words on the sticker as you pull it up you know um I there's this one seller on here and he I think it's a husband wife team actually but it's amazing. They have all the shirts and dresses and everything all the clothes front facing they grab it and on the back of the hanger they have written the the name brand the size the measurements everything so that they're not wasting your time during the show doing all of that. And so it makes things just go so much faster. And they do a really really good job but they also are writing some descriptive words on there. They're not just saying oh here it is Calvin Klein size eight pit to pit you know 22. They're not doing that. They're coming up with descriptive words. Okay. Um so do that. That's your homework at least five words okay so every time you feel the word cute coming out of your mouth you're going to be aware of it now. Now that you've heard this you're going to see how many times other people do this. You're going to recognize it and you're going to glance over to your sticky notes or your words on the wall whatever and you're going to try to pop that in its place. Okay guys um and then I have a list I've made another list here it is okay so this is my master word list. I should actually print this somewhere and get it to you guys. I if you want it you can message me I'll send it to you okay here here's some of them again I I I've said them but I have them in a in a list right here that I'm going to say real quick. So pens and papers out I'm going to do this and then I'm going to grab a few different things in my room and just try to describe them better than saying the word cute. Okay darling lovely delightful charming enchanting graceful captivating oh I had this in here bewitching um breathtaking eye catching head turning heart stopping um electric what else um but then we did the small ones we did um little bitty itty bitty petite um then we did whimsical quirky I'm just doing some of them uh spirited sassy um vivacious bodacious um quaint retro classic storybook old fashioned sentimental antique heirloom um what else do I have um magnificent divine smashing fabulous spectacular dazzling opulent luscious scrumptious luxurious exquisite gorgeous sublime chic polished tasteful uh jazzy swanky elegant sophisticated adorable sweet um dreamy heavenly delicious if you're you're selling food scrumptious um captivating fascinating hypnotic alluring one of a kind thought provoking remarkable extraordinary the bee's knees swell groovy far out fab nifty uh peachy scrumptious smashing audacious I even said fantabulous okay so there's all that I was only gonna do 20 minutes I kind of went off track as usual okay let me I'm up in I'm in my room right now okay here is this is a what is this a necklace that I bought okay so I have a necklace it's a how okay here here I go I'm just gonna do this one thing okay guys this is a beautiful House of Harlow 1960 freshwater pearl um necklace it's 16 inches long and it's lead safe it's nickel free it's got really sweet little um fresh water pearls on it and it's made with a oh gosh okay let me think I'm thinking it's made with gold shells and it's got this adorable little um clams and oh what is this called I see this is why you gotta write it down in advance what is that one called it's not a starfish it's oh a sand dollar it's got an adorable sand dollar and yeah I could have even looked up some of these different kinds but it's a charm bracelet charm necklace and it's just very sweet and um such a classy look you could wear this on the beach you could wear this on a date night it would go with lots of different outfits and because of the gold and these pearls it'll go with any color you get the idea I'm not I I didn't practice on it I just grabbed it but I didn't use the word cute and that is the that is the final on this guys try to elevate your language try to come up with some words try to describe your items and also have the energy behind it and realize and maybe even talk to your mods and say hey we're gonna try our very best not to use the word cute going forward and it's okay if two or three steps you know slip out during your show but let's just try to make this a group effort guys we can do it you can do it and the thing is you want them to visualize it and give the descriptions and do your best. Now just point blank if y'all come into my next show and I have not done this I have been on vacation and had a lot of medical things I keep moving my show back from Monday to Wednesday. Now it's on Friday um just because of my health issues um so I am not spending time doing this this is always best practice and I will try not to use the word cute um I will try to be descriptive sometimes I'm better than others and same with you I get it we need to have grace but this is best practices this is us trying to raise the bar on our shows for our customers and bring it with more effort and energy and thought and that's it and that's all I got for you guys today. I hope this episode landed with you and that you appreciate it. If you do please give me a five star review and a nice little rating I mean five star rating and a nice review. There we go. And um thank you so much for being here guys I really love you and I appreciate you and I hope you all are having a wonderful day and that your shows are going great. Take care talk to you later