Widgetized Section

Go to Admin » Appearance » Widgets » and move Gabfire Widget: Social into that MastheadOverlay zone

Don’t Be Guilty of Jargon

Use your “out-of-the-box” thinking to think of a new word

9619550_lAre you constantly aiming to think “outside the box” or trying to “impact” your department’s growth? Then you’re guilty of using business jargon.

Although, I try to keep jargon out of my written and verbal communication, I must admit that I’ve been guilty of “reaching out” to people I’m trying to connect with.

According to an article on Forbes, most of us are guilty of using words that don’t really convey what we’re trying to say. While some of the phrases like Open the Kimono, which is a creepy way of saying revealing information, were new to me, most were familiar.

It pains me every time I hear someone say think “outside the box” – what box? What does that mean? How about looking at the problem from a different perspective?

The list in the article, The Most Annoying, Pretentious, And Useless Business Jargon, includes robust, vertical, scalable and one of my personal favorites impact (when used as a verb).  The authors also mention one of the most overused, meaningless phrases: corporate values.

Don’t be the person boasting about giving 110% or some tired-of-the-jargon wiseass may ask you why you didn’t give more. 

About Annette Richmond, MA

Annette Richmond, MA, CARW, CCELW, is a Certified Resume Writer, Certified LinkedIn Profile Writer, and former recruiter. Her career advice has been featured by Huffington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Business Insider, Monster, Vault, and WSJ. She helps motivated, senior level professionals tell their unique career story. She also serves as executive editor of career-intelligence.com.

Connect

Follow on Twitter Connect on Facebook View all Posts Visit Website

You must be logged in to post a comment Login