Last modified on July 30, 2010 by Brad Phillips

Lose the Jargon!

“I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get the same money for cop.” – Mark Twain

Over the years, I’ve trained hundreds of spokespersons from technical backgrounds, ranging from physicians and scientists to policy analysts and financial officers.

During their mock interviews, they inevitably use words that are incomprehensible for many members of a general audience.

The engineer may say something is “optimized,” the scientist may refer to a “peer-reviewed journal,” and the physician may say a cancer is “metastatic.” But those words have little meaning to many and serve as a barrier between you and your audience.

Effective communication to a general audience means being broadly understood. It means restricting your professional jargon to conversations with your colleagues. And it means using everyday words like “city” instead of “Metropolis.”

In this video media training tip, you’ll learn how to avoid unnecessary jargon.