I’m honored. I’m thrilled. I’m excited to announce.

At some point, LinkedIn started to sound like everyone was reading from the same corporate greeting card.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with sharing wins, celebrating milestones, or posting professional updates. That’s part of why LinkedIn exists. But somewhere along the way, a lot of the real voice got polished right out of the room.

Everyone is strategic. Everyone is humbled. Everyone is proud to partner with an incredible team on an amazing journey. Blah, blah, blah.

Sometimes I miss when people just talked like people.

Maybe the most authentic thing we can do on LinkedIn is stop trying so hard to sound impressive. Say what you mean. Share what you learned. Admit what was hard. Tell the story without wrapping it in buzzwords.

Because a real connection usually starts when the script ends.