Apocrypha has it that Tolkien’s first draft of The Hobbit was written in Elfish. He showed it proudly to a buddy of his who said, “That’s brilliant, Ronald, old chap. Trouble is, nobody can read it but you.”
Moral: People shouldn’t have to learn a new language to figure out what the heck you’re talking about.
Lesson: Every business, from cheesemaking to accounting, uses jargon. It provides shorthand for note-taking and helps us make our meaning clear when we’re talking with our colleagues. Every one of us gets caught up in the language of our business.
There are only three reasons to use language this is incomprehensible to your prospects and customers: (1) you’re clueless, (2) you’re lazy, and/or (3) you want to demonstrate how much smarter you are than they.
But your customers shouldn’t need an advanced degree in [insert your profession here] in order to understand what you do or to communicate with you. Are you in business to make people’s lives easier or harder?
For one thing, most people won’t work that hard — see my first post, “Don’t assume” — and will likely go looking for a vendor easier to talk and listen to.
For another thing, it limits the range of people you can work with to people who are already expert enough in your field that they can speak your jargon. (Besides, if they know so much, why would they need to hire you?)
Do this: Pull up your web site and plop someone in front of it who doesn’t know what you do. Ask her to point out the words, phrases, and acronyms she doesn’t understand. Then translate those words into plain English (or whatever common language your audience speaks). Do the same thing with your brochures, selling scripts, and PowerPoint presentations.
Don’t worry that converting your communications from jargon to English will “dumb down” your image. Intelligent people appreciate clarity just as much as stupid people do.
(Thanks for Mark Anderson for this cartoon.)
