Jettison the Jargon and Banish the Buzzwords.
Video presentations, conferences, panel discussions, and webinars are dominating our work hours. Along with the endless talking, jargon and buzzwords have flooded in. Examples: high level, no need to reinvent the wheel, value proposition, low-hanging fruit, customer journey, etc.
The speaker uses these in the belief it makes them sound current and erudite; by using these words, only people who are part of their elite profession will understand.
But this is not the case. These expressions serve to annoy and confuse. Most often, the listening audience will cringe, grit their teeth, or stop listening so they can work out what the expression means. Right there, the speaker has broken their connection with the listeners.
Relying on buzzwords and jargon is a lazy way to communicate and reflect poorly on speakers. The solution is to use clear, plain language. Before your next presentation, take a hard look at your notes and replace the buzzwords with precise language. Aim for clarity, not cleverness.
More winners in the Worst Buzzwords Contest: loop back around, agile, deep-dive, scrum.