August 29th, 2007
Cut the jar gon: It has become a public relations nighmare leading to misinformation, disinformation and misunderstanding by journalists, customers and the public
a new PR staff member working with a high-tech team of marketing and engineering professionals was caught off guard when she heard one engineer say, “Let’s take that on a bilateral bus off-line.” Translation: “Let’s talk about it after the meeting.” Or as someone else who lives in the jargon-as-English camp might have said at the same meeting, “You know, I just don’t have the bandwidth to go into that space right now.” Translation: “I don’t have time to explore that issue at the moment.
By the way, just for accuracy’s sake, my engineering friends tell me that “a bilateral bus off-line” isn’t exactly correct usage. And they’re only too willing to offer me the correct technical way of delivering that simple, yet very complex, message. But the point I’m trying to make here is that jargon has so infiltrated a number of professions that it is used not only to explain technical data in unintelligible ways to the uninitiated, but also to communicate basic everyday messages in ways that frustrate and alienate those who aren’t part of the inner circle. In short, it has become a public relations nightmare leading to misinformation, disinformation and misunderstanding by journalists, customers and the public.
Another popular form of “jargoneering” is what I call “the parade of acronyms.” It includes terms like BIOS, PCMCIA, RAM, ROM, USB. The list is endless. The third type of jargon, which is probably less harmful but still quite irritating, is the rampant use of cliches, such as “latest and greatest” and “the goodness of the PC.” Excuse me for being impolite, but I wasn’t aware that the PC holds moral sway in our society!
the problem
Jargon in the high-tech world, where I spend most of my working hours, has reached epidemic proportions. It’s used indiscriminately and pervasively without careful-consideration of whether or not the person hearing the jargon understands the messenger. If you do ask someone to explain what a jargon word means, you’re likely to be met with more jargon in the explanation. The poor receiver of the message doesn’t know where to begin deciphering the terms.
Perhaps the saddest part is that the person using the jargon often doesn’t realize that he or she is being misunderstood or written off as yet “another geek” who can’t communicate. The well-meaning communicator, in opting for jargon, has lost a valuable opportunity to communicate about his or her passion with a potential customer base. In short, jargon has become another way to separate “the in-group from the out-group.” Knowingly or unknowingly, jargon has become the lazy man’s way to avoid wrestling with how to communicate clearly, concisely and with passion to others who may not understand the concepts that some of us live and breathe each day.
The result? Multiple missed opportunities for educating customers, consumers, journalists, investors and the general public. In the case of journalists, if corporate spokespeople use jargon, it’s left solely up to reporters, who may or may not be technology experts, to define these words for their readers. Take the combination of a potentially less than adequate understanding of jargon with a race to meet story deadlines, and you have a recipe for inaccuracy.
In the case of potential customers, poorly defined jargon can easily result in a lack of appreciation about what the product or technology can really do for them. If they do not understand the terms being used to describe its advantages, it’s hard to get excited about the breakthrough that it represents. There will very likely be missed opportunities to sell products, technologies, ideas that could benefit both business and personal users. Ultimately we all lose out when we do not clearly understand what these terms mean and, more important, what benefits they will bring to our lives.
the “so what?” solution
The solution to this sorry state of communication lies in a simple notion: Know Your Audience. Effective communicators in any environment must understand the knowledge base of their audience; they must know what the audience is interested in; and they must be capable of stating clearly why a particular audience should actually care about the topic. In other words, what are the specific, tangible benefits that are available to this audience if they buy this product, technology, specification or idea?
A senior-level public relations professional from a leading high-tech organization I’ve worked with takes great pride in calling herself the “So What? Lady.” In her organization, when people come to her with what they consider to be a great new story idea they want her to promote, she puts it through the “So What?” test. “So What” will it do for the people we are trying to target our communication toward? “So Why” should they care about this new idea, product or technology?
Just imagine if we held ourselves to this same practice when it comes to using jargon! “So What?” I would ask you when you spout off your latest technical babble. What if you were to exercise the discipline to explain that word clearly and concisely — not only what it means, but why I, your audience, should care about it?.