I’m a logophile, I admit it. I love words and language and communication. I love getting a particular message across to a particular audience, and I love helping clients do the same. It serves me well in my career as a brand consultant, as the visuals and the message are equally important.
In this age where content is everything (and changing content is necessary for search engines to find you), many of our clients struggle with words and message. Most worry about 1) having something relevant to say, 2) speaking in an authentic voice, and 3) avoiding sounding like everybody else. On top of that, it’s sometimes difficult for businesses and organizations to know how much they should be communicating with their clients, constituents, and potential clients.
The simple answer is to do what feels right for your business, and do your best to be consistent (whether that’s a daily tweet, a weekly blog post or a monthly newsletter). We’ve often advised clients to write like they speak, only a little better. Sometimes a great way to convey relevant content is to start talking–have a conversation and record it–then write it down and improve it.
Beyond that, the most important thing to remember is to avoid jargon. You know what I’m talking about — the weasel words and phrases that folks try to use to sound smart, but that really come off as confusing, inauthentic or silly. Now as a “logophile” or lover of words, I admit I sometimes have to reign myself in. For example, just yesterday, I met a lovely woman at an event who happened to run the intern placement and career development office of a local university, and as we parted, I expressed how “fortuitous” it was that I happened to sit down outside next to her as we were currently seeking and interviewing interns. Yes, I probably could have said lucky or fortunate, and had I been writing a blog post, I might have used a simpler word. She actually repeated me and said, “Wow, what a great word.” So rule number one is know your audience. She could handle it. And in my defense, it was authentic for me.
The real jargon offenders are confusing, inauthentic and often cliché. After suggesting to a potential client that he complete a Needs Assessment Form to clarify how we might help him, he said that he would “run it up the flagpole” with “the powers that be,” rather than he would check with the boss and get back to me. When he said that he’d be “out of pocket” the next day, I really had to think about what he was trying to say. Turns out he would be unavailable to talk or follow up the next day. Communicating should not be that difficult.
This video from College Humor made me chuckle. It’s the epitome of jargon in action.
That’s a bit of an extreme case and of course, meant to be tongue-in-cheek (see, it’s hard to totally avoid clichés!), but I would also caution the use of words that are so overused that they are no longer believed. For example “full-service” or “turn key” or “value engineering” can mean different things to different people. Why use “utilize” when you really mean “use?” And what does it mean to “synergize” or “operationalize?” And then there are a whole slew of nouns that get used as verbs (for example, impact, effort or efforting, and leveraging).
Writer Christopher Steiner, I think, said it best in a Forbes.com article earlier this year on avoiding business jargon:
“Jargon-slingers often want to be your buddy. They’ll offer to touch base, circle the wagons and get people working on the same page. They want to grab low-hanging fruit and move the needle.
But jargon-slingers’ vocabulary hieroglyphics often limit everyone’s bandwidth when the troops really just want to drink from a high-level fire hose while the cement is still wet and the competition is still in the weeds. It’s an issue that can bedevil otherwise effective people from soup to nuts and keep them from becoming the kind of game-changing paradigm-shifters that companies need to take it to the next level.”
Okay. . . .what?
You see, that is the point exactly—jargon can complicate the most simple of messages. Remember to keep it authentic, simple and clear—your audience will thank you.
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