A few months ago, I was having dinner with a friend and fellow poet. When we started discussing corporate careers, with specific reference to one of my professional roles, he remarked, “So, you’re one of those people who uses terms like ‘low-hanging fruit’!” and we both laughed quite a bit. It was a joke that stayed with me as it is related to the question I try to answer every day in my corporate and literary careers: How do I write without sounding profane, boring or predictable? How do I avoid jargon?
Routine
When you use a certain kind of business vocabulary for years on end, it becomes part of your routine language. And I am guilty of it too. In fact, once I remember telling my husband when we were discussing something, “… I will keep you posted” and he glared at me, gently reminding me he wasn’t one of my “stakeholders”. Thankfully, he didn’t return the favour and list my “deliverables”.
Communicating artfully is not easy. And sometimes, the most difficult thing to do is to be simple. But how do I “champion” simplicity without falling prey to commonly overused phrases and terms. How do I “evangelise” down-to-earth language that conveys what it needs to, without sounding pompous or obscure? How do I engage with my readers — with you — without giving you a taste of what you have already read elsewhere? But writing is part of me, it is what makes me who I am. And though I may not have the answers to all the questions, I invite you to join me as I seek to respond to them.
It may not always be possible to avoid jargon. After all, we all need to work with words used in particular professional contexts. Legal departments do need their legalese. As does finance, sales or HR. As long as they are used in contracts or within closed groups. However, a pattern starts to emerge, and unconsciously, it influences our everyday language, creating obstacles to flawless communication.
For some of the overused examples of corporate jargon I have quoted above, there are more effective and accepted alternatives. “Work products” or “work outcomes” sounds so much simpler than deliverables. Also, the problem with “deliverables” is that it doesn’t specify what we are expected to do. “Advocate” is a more humble and non-dramatic alternative for “champion” unless the context demands the latter.
There’s a whole lot of jargon associated with meetings alone. At the end of meetings or learning sessions, it is common for the participants to list “takeaways”. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the word but a more straightforward solution is to say “key point” or “idea”.
Business communication is about ensuring your recipient gets the intended message quickly and also about getting the desired outcome. So, simple and straightforward prose is always better. Our emails, calls, presentations or documents cannot be dotted with jargon that could reek of artificiality. Our audiences are intelligent and they can see right through.
As I conclude, I am struggling to find an alternative for “stakeholders”, one of my favourites, I must admit. Do let me know if you can think of something simpler. I could use your suggestion in my next meeting.
The author is a writer and literary journalist. She also heads Corporate Communications at UST Global. Twitter: @anupamaraju
