Wedding Business Solutions

Use Is, not Was in your reviews!

• Alan Berg, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow

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Have you ever wondered how the wording of your reviews impacts how clients perceive your business? Are you missing opportunities to make your services feel relevant and current just by using the wrong tense? In this episode, I explore why using “is” instead of “was” in your reviews can build more trust, show off your ongoing excellence, and even improve your marketing. What subtle shifts can you make in your review requests to ensure your reputation feels as fresh and vibrant as your service?

Listen to this new 5-minute episode for actionable tips on updating your reviews and marketing language so couples and clients know you’re delivering excellence right now.

If you have any questions about anything in this, or any of my podcasts, or have a suggestion for a topic or guest, please reach out directly to me at Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or visit my website Podcast.AlanBerg.com 

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View the full transcript on Alan’s site: https://alanberg.com/blog/


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I'm Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you'd like to suggest other topics for "The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast" please let me know. My email is Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.

Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:

©2025 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com

Use is not was when posting a review. Listen to this episode and see why. Hey, it's Alan Berg. Welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions podcast. I was listening to a book called Magic Words by Jonah Berger. Magic Words by Jonah Berger. And interesting point that he brought up. And he said, when you're writing a review or reading a review, some people say the food was good in that restaurant, the service was good, and other people say the service is good or the food is good.And we trust that is more than the was because the is sounds like it's happening now as opposed to the was sounds like it was happening before. So I started thinking about that. The reviews that I've posted, the reviews that people have posted about me. And if you haven't reviewed this, if you have the ability to do this on Apple or YouTube or whatever, we appreciate that. Or on Google. What about the reviews people have posted about you? They are great. They were great. Think about that difference in the wording there.

It's such a subtle thing, but it does make a difference. So how can we use this for ourselves? Is, if we're posting a review, can we give that courtesy to that business and say is instead of was? And then can we guide our couples, guide our clients when they're posting review about us to use the present tense as opposed to the past tense? Because we know that recent reviews are the most important. But when you're reading a review, you don't first always look at the date. You might read the review or see the headline, if it has one, and then you might look at the date to see, okay, was that last week? Last year, Five years ago or whatever. But it was an interesting little thing. And this is going to be a short episode, but I just want you to think about this the next time you post the review or go back and read the reviews or think about the reviews that you're going to use on, on your website in your marketing and things like that. And the one, maybe choosing one, if you had a choice of two, choosing to use one that has is instead of was, or a current present tense as opposed to a past tense so that people will see that. So if I go to your website and somebody said, you know, the food was amazing, Right.

Is that good? Yes. And if somebody else says, my guests are still raving about how great the food was, there's a was, but my gifts are still is a current as a present tense thing. Right. So it's a, it's just a little tweak there. And Then I wonder if there's other points in our marketing and in our advertising where watching that wording and making sure we're not using past tense words when we could be using current present tense verbs and words to talk about this is what's going on now as opposed to this has happened, but is it still happening? Is the kind of unknown there. So just a quick thing about this is versus was. I post reviews a lot on TripAdvisor, Yelp and Google and they say I'm one of the top reviewers there just because I travel a lot. So I have the opportunity.

And believe me, I don't post every place that I've gone to. But I'm going to think about it the next time I'm writing review and try to use the present words instead of the past words to give that business the courtesy. Especially if I'm posting a really good review, which is usually the case because we try to pick places based upon the reputation anyway. So if I had a great experience, if I say the gluten free pancakes are delicious instead of were delicious, slight difference. And it's just going to help them, it's going to help me think in terms of that and maybe it'll encourage some other people. So if you're going to be asking your couples or your clients, maybe there's a wording for this. I'm not even sure. I'm just thinking about this on the fly.

So if somebody has a good idea for that, please message me. How could you word it that you can ask your couples to use the present tense instead of the past tense with that without it seeming like you're being too heavy handed in how you're asking them to post the review. But it's just an interesting little different twist. When I was listening to this book, I made this note. That's how I come up with a lot of these podcast topics. Is something just sparks and say oh yeah, is not was makes a difference. So nice short episode. Hope it gives you something to think about.

Go look into your reviews, go look at the ones you're using and look at the the wording on your site. And this also maybe you could use AI to update your wording and say let's make sure I'm not using past tense words. I'm using present tense words to talk about my services so people know that we're doing this now. Thanks for listening.


I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or you can  text, use the short form on this page, or call +1.732.422.6362, international 001 732 422 6362. I look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.

Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:

©2025 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com


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Alan Berg, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow

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