In December 2008, I visited Detroit to discuss jargon with a group of business communicators. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves in writing — and apparently I'm not alone. The room was filled with sole proprietors and marketing directors eager to strengthen their brands and free their communication from the clutter of jargon. This is a summary of our meeting.
Jargon: What is it?
Simply put, jargon is “biz-speak” or other insider language that creeps into our marketing communications.
Jargon: What does it look like?
For an extremely abridged list of taboo words, click here and study my “Words That Cost Extra.” And please feel free to send your favorite additions to wayne@waynegeyer.com.
Jargon: What does it look like in Detroit?
Unbeknownst to my audience, I had studied a few of their websites in advance. My plan was to scan these businesses’ marketing language for jargon — and to blow the whistle on it during the presentation. The participants were relieved to learn there weren’t nearly as many offenders as I had anticipated. But one bit of copy did, in fact, stand out:
Our team of professionals helps create innovative, robust and cost-effective solutions that produce real business results for our clients.
Working collaboratively, we function as trusted advisors, helping guide our clients toward meeting their overall business objectives.
Fortunately for the company in question, it’s impossible to decipher from this excerpt who’s creating these “innovative, robust and cost-effective solutions” — or even what problems they’re meant to solve. But that’s also the bad news. Their “About Us” story could describe practically any firm in any field. And that’s what happens when jargon gets out of hand.
Jargon: Why do we use it?
Of course, no one sets out to write something that’s cold, detached and unoriginal. In fact, I’d suggest that most people use jargon with only the best of intentions:
Clarity: By describing our business as a “one-stop shop,” we’re simplifying a broader and more complicated idea — and we’re trying to let our audience know about our services in as few words as possible. The problem is that this kind of over-simplification is so convenient that it becomes vernacular — and then cliché.
Originality: Almost every business is tasked with saying the same old things in new ways. So rather than letting potential customers know that we offer “a wide range of services,” we pull out the thesaurus and arrive at “a vast array of solutions.” After all, “vast” sounds better than “wide” — and “solutions” sounds more impressive than “services,” right? Unfortunately, new quickly becomes old (remember “push the envelope”?) — and the prettier-sounding words aren't enough to help a vague, tired message.
Embellishment: Let’s face it. Do I really need a “world-class drywall solution”? No. I need someone to fix the hole in my wall. When we offer “best-in-class” or “best-of-breed” products or services (are we running a law firm or an animal shelter?), our claims are not only difficult to substantiate — but our language also pushes a legitimate message past the “bleeding edge” and into hyperbole.
Justification: During the tech boom of the late ’90s, I wrote tons of websites and other materials for e-commerce firms. Every one of them was obsessed with selling a “proprietary process.” In most cases, these businesses needed to justify their fees to prospective clients who didn’t understand what they were being asked to buy. [Note: the value of marketing such a “process” is a topic for another blog post.] For me, the problem was that these so-called “proprietary” offerings weren’t in the least bit unique from business to business — and it was a huge challenge to make them sound worthwhile.
Euphemism: It’s less confrontational to say, “Going forward, we need a best practice around our operating policies” than, “Smith, don’t be late again.” The problem with soft selling is that it can come off as passive-aggressive.
Best practice (get it?): We want to sound professional. We want to seem legitimate and credible. So we adopt an air of formality in our writing that simply isn’t natural. And ultimately, it translates to the audience as stilted — and even a bit superior.
Inclusion: If our competition is offering “world-class drywall solutions,” then we certainly don’t want to be left out of any RFPs because our drywall solutions aren’t “world-class” as well. But this “me too” thinking is a trap — and it reveals the biggest pitfall of using jargon in marketing communications.
Jargon is the enemy of differentiation — and the point of marketing and branding is to create a unique experience in the minds of an audience. In the rush to seem competitive, businesses that litter their branding with jargon are actually forfeiting their competitive advantages.
Jargon: What can we do about it?
The key to eliminating jargon isn’t as easy as picking up a thesaurus or performing a “Find / Replace” command for every occurrence of “solutions” in your text document. We don’t need better words. We need better ideas. And so, here are a few pointers for identifying and articulating clearer, more original and more compelling marketing messages.
- Have something to say. Somewhere in your laundry list of features and talking points is a real emotional or financial message. People who read marketing materials are interested in benefits — saving time, saving money, feeling empowered, increasing sales. Find what’s relevant to your audience, and shout that message from the rooftops.
- Say what you mean. In their efforts to sound professional, many business people end up writing copy that’s stilted, stuffy and formal. Even worse, they get themselves into ridiculous grammatical situations — all in an effort to sound like they know what they’re doing. Think about how we suddenly try to sound like lawyers when we’re talking to a judge about dismissing a traffic ticket. When you’re writing, ask yourself, “Who talks like that?” — then re-structure your sentences so they’re more direct and natural.
- Shift the focus. We’re talking to an audience, not to ourselves. Replace ideas built on “we” and “our” to messages aimed at “you” and “your.” Make it relevant to the reader. Speak to the benefits they want.
- Spell it out. Without insulting your reader’s intelligence, don’t hesitate to state your intended message plainly and directly. Ask for their business, their confidence and their trust. Tell them what you want them to know — in the context of their interests. In other words, answer the question, “So what?” You can do this by incorporating “transitional” words or phrases. These include, “In other words” (see previous sentence), “That means” or simply, “So.” Transitional words or phrases are cues to the reader that you’re about to break something down for them. Use them to get to the point and to clarify your message.
Bottom line (see? a transition), branding is a dialogue between your business and your customers. Speak to those customers the way you’d like to have them speak to you. Remember, you’re a consumer, too. You’ve read countless marketing messages — some bland, and some memorable. Find a unique voice for your business, and then use it simply and clearly. You’ll not only treat your audience with the respect they deserve, but you may also find that they reward your originality and honesty with their business — and their loyalty.
