If you haven’t seen the movie Office Space, shame on you. It’s a hilarious movie making fun of the cubicle office experience. One of the bosses is a great spoof on corporate speak, and often says, “Why don’t you go ahead and…” and “Let’s have you go ahead and…” in this beautifully passive-aggressive way. “Corey, please do this” is telling me to do something. “Why don’t you go ahead and do this” implies that I came up with the idea and yre giving me permission. In Office Space, it’s great.
In product demos, it’s not.
I’ve seen soooo many web product demos that use this. I don’t know why people think this is appropriate. I’m sitting there watching you walk through your site. i’m committed, I want to be there. I don’t need you to passively guide me through the steps (which you are doing) and make me feel like I’m in control. I’m not. I’m watching you move a mouse. Just get to the point.
In business and marketing and on the web, we forget it’s okay to take charge sometimes. Using a passive voice is not going to win or lose you business, make people feel better or divert blame when yr site fails. I mean, don’t be aggressive or rude, but being direct is often easier to understand and even appreciated.