The unprecedented circumstances that started in 2020 brought new jargon to the forefront. These terms are so generic and used so broadly that it’s impossible to know what they mean.
Love it or hate it (and most people hate it), there’s no escaping all the annoying business babble that permeates the workplace, no matter our industry or professional level.
We use jargon because it feels convenient, comfortable, and safe. But buzzwords make it harder for us to communicate effectively.
In today’s world, the latest “tech talk” isn’t limited to tech departments. With so many of us heavily dependent on technology, keeping an eye on the latest tech industry headlines and trends happen everywhere, from the CEO’s office to the employee break room (or, in many cases these days, employees’ living rooms).
This has led to the wide use of tech “buzzwords” such as “digital transformation,” “agile,” “disruption,” and many, as we can see in the TrustRadius’ surveys on 2021’s Must Annoying Business Buzzwords and 2021’s Most Hatted Tech Buzzwords.
But does everyone using these terms know what they mean? Or is “talking tech” easier than implementing actual change?
These terms, if not used correctly, could add nothing to a conversation. They obscure the clarity of our sentences. And they alienate others around us who aren’t sure what we mean. Think about it, particularly if you work with diverse colleagues or audiences in terms of backgrounds, functions, areas of expertise, countries, languages, or English proficiency level.
As we all work to address the pressing challenges, we must have more integrity with our language. We have to fight the trend toward performative and silo thinking. We need to be comfortable discussing these issues head-on without the vagueness of jargon.
Using the right words ensures that our audience gets the exact meaning we are trying to convey without being verbose. This makes us a better communicator to colleagues, the team, and our audience.
Overall, always use our better judgment to ensure that our content is down to earth and resonates with our audience.
Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley once said that 90 percent of his job was trying to communicate. That’s the case for many business leaders who spend a lot of energy figuring out how to communicate in a way that gets people tuning in rather than tuning out.
Overusing business jargon and buzzwords defeats any of that effort. It undermines our credibility as a leader, makes us sound like the equivalent of business advice from a billboard, and plain makes people, not like us.
I am guilty of using many of these buzzwords myself, but honestly, who is not?
Additional reading:
Top 10 Most Hated #TechBuzzwords of 2021 and How We Misuse Them
👉🏼 http://ow.ly/ky6o30rKA9S
The 27 Most Annoying #BusinessBuzzwords of 2021
👉🏼 http://ow.ly/jg3N30rKA9Y
15 Tech Industry Leaders Share #Overused (And #Misused) Tech Buzzwords
👉🏼 http://ow.ly/xz2L30rKAd1
11 #Annoying Business #Buzzwords You Use Without Thinking and What to Say Instead
👉🏼 http://ow.ly/WgHx30rKAfF
