Pardon My Jargon

Speak a language your audience can understand

In the back of my filing cabinet I keep a folder of memos I have collected over the years. I save them for a variety of reasons. Some remind me of projects that have been foundational in my career. Others remind me of friends and associates I have long since lost track of. But I keep the lion’s share of these memos because they serve as vivid reminders of everything that is wrong with the art of communication in the modern workplace.

These memos fairly bristle with fractured grammar and tortured logic. But the most conspicuous offense is the pervasive use of jargon, buzzwords, and fuzzy concepts.

A recent memo forwarded by a friend, for example, promises an attempt to “map the handoffs and all processes in a combined swim lanes uber-process” at an upcoming meeting. As a writer and a person who cares — a lot — about the English language, I shudder when I run across phrases like this. The language is so florid, so imbued with the writer’s sense of self-importance, I can only wonder if it actually conveys any idea worthy of my consideration.

Yet at the same time, I have to admit that I do understand what my friend’s manager is trying to say here. Just as I understand, however reluctantly, what other managers mean when they tell me they are “thinking outside the box” or “incenting their clients” to take a stand on some issue. Tortured as it is, I do understand this strange new language.

This should come as no surprise, says Suzanne Bates, author of Speak Like a CEO: Secrets for Commanding Attention and Getting Results (McGraw-Hill, 2005). Every discipline develops its own shorthand for communicating basic concepts. If businesspeople use a term like “swim lane” or “uber-process” often enough, listeners will soon have a pretty good idea of what the expression means.

“I used to work in a newsroom,” Bates says. “I was a television reporter, and there are certain words of the trade that you use in a newsroom that are shorthand. Those are very helpful. They help people communicate quickly and efficiently because everyone understands the language.”

At least, you hope they do. All too often, however, the meaning of the jargon and clichés we commonly use in our memos and presentations is as vague in the mind of the writer as it is in the mind of the audience.

“It [has become] part of the common language, but that doesn’t mean that it means something,” explains Bates. “When you think about a phrase even as common as ‘ASAP,’ people think they understand what it means. But does it mean, ‘Could you finish this by the end of the day?’ Does it mean, ‘Whenever you have time to do it’? Does it mean, ‘My hair is on fire’? It could mean any of those things. It means different things to different people.”

So in other words, if you want something done by 5 o’clock, spell it out: “I want this done by 5 o’clock.” And the same principle applies when talking about new ideas, calls to action, or business processes.

“One of the key things is knowing who your audience is, what they need to know, and making sure that you frame the communication in such a way that your audience understands the meaning you intend,” says Neal Hartman, senior lecturer of behavioral and policy sciences at the MIT Sloan School of Management. “Part of that has to do with the clarity and the accuracy of the language. And a lot of times, it’s one thing if you’re writing for or speaking to people within your own organization, and another matter if you’re speaking to a broader audience.”

One of the best ways to ensure that you will be understood, according to Hartman, is to put yourself into the shoes of your intended audience. Read the memo or presentation aloud and ask yourself if it indeed makes the point you’re trying to make. Consider also what the language you’re using says about you. Are you hiding behind vague generalities and platitudes, or do the words you speak represent an authoritative statement of fact or call to action? When you hear the words spoken aloud, you’ll have a pretty good sense of where you stand.

Considering the number of mangled memos and incomprehensible reports frustrated friends have sent me over the years, I think we would all do well to heed Hartman’s advice. Colleagues, customers, and subordinates are all paying attention to what we say and commit to paper. How much better would it be if they were listening to us, rather than laughing at us?

— Dayton Fandray

Say What You Mean

It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that clear, concise communication is the cornerstone of a successful business. If people don’t understand what you’re trying to tell them, you might as well board up the windows and pull in your welcome mat.

Jerry Weissman’s Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006) and Lonnie Pacelli’s The Truth About Getting Your Point Across (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006) are two useful guides to sharpening your presentation skills, whatever the target audience. Courage, conviction, wisdom, clarity, and credibility are the keys, says Pacelli, “regardless of whether you are speaking in front of hundreds of people, writing reports to your boss, or running a PTA meeting.”

More than a decade into the Internet age, e-mail is still perhaps the least understood and most misused form of business communication. David Shipley and Will Schwalbe’s Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home (Knopf, 2007) is an essential guide to this notoriously tricky form of communication.

— D.F.