COMMUNICATION SPECIAL .....21 Annoying Words and Phrases You Must Stop Using Right Now

21 Annoying Words and Phrases You Must Stop Using Right Now

Nearly everyone uses these business buzzwords, and we should all stop.

Ah, business communications. We talk and write in metaphors and clichés. You hear someone use a term like "at the end of the day" and then you hear yourself using it as well. Pretty soon you can't get through the simplest conversation without hearing it.

There are two big problems with the proliferation of business buzzwords and buzzphrases, besides their (considerable) capacity to irritate. The first is that different people hearing those buzzwords or cliché phrases may not understand them quite the same way, creating subtle but important communications failures. The second is that by falling back on overused words and phrases, you're inviting your listener's or reader's brain to fall asleep. You're inviting your own brain to do the same. Relying on buzzwords and catch phrases is an easy -- but lazy and uninspiring -- way to get your point across.

So don't do it. Your writing, presentations, pitches, and all business communications should be as fresh and engaging as you can make them. You can't achieve that by using stale, overused, vague language. If you write or say any of these words or phrases -- and I guarantee you're using at least some of them -- your writing and presentations will be much more compelling if you replace them with something fresher, or that simply says what you mean.

1. Around

There's nothing wrong with this if you use it in its traditional sense of "in the vicinity" or "encircling." But don't use it when you mean "about," as in, "I have some concerns around your performance." What you mean is, "I have concerns about your performance," but
"around" somehow makes it seem less pointed. What you should really say is something more simple and straightforward, such as, "I'm concerned about your performance."

2. At the end of the day

If you're inviting someone for after-work cocktails, this is fine. But most people seem to use it to mean, "this is what really matters," or "this is how things add up." Say what you mean.

3. Ballpark

If you're giving directions to a sporting event, then use this term. Don't use it to mean, "this is a rough estimate."

4. Best of breed

Fine to use if you're judging show dogs. But this term has been so overused about software that it has no meaning at all.

5. Bandwidth

Again, fine if you're talking about your internet connection. If you're talking about whether someone has the time, energy, or attention to take on a project, say that.

6. Bleeding edge

This is a great example of buzzword bloat. It started out as "leading edge," until that became meaningless. "Cutting edge" sounded sharper but that too has been overused. Now we're not just leading, or even cutting, but actually bleeding. I shudder to think what's next.

7. Buy-in

You need support from your peers and bosses, and willing assistance from your employees. You don't need anyone to "buy in" unless you're starting an office betting pool.

8. Color

This is fine if you're repainting your office or deciding on a new logo. But people use "color" to mean relevant details, as in "let me give you some color around our sales figures." If you mean details, say details.

9. Empower

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for giving people more power. But this term, along with "enable," has been badly overused. We usually talk about "empowering" a previously downtrodden group, typically women. And "empower" in that context usually means helping women change their attitudes to believe themselves to be powerful.
Which is certainly a great thing to do, but it might be more fruitful to "empower" women with things like equal pay, equal VC funding, and equal representation on corporate boards.

10. Functionality

In technology terms, this word is nothing more than a five-syllable way of saying "function" or "feature." Don't waste the extra breath.

11. Ideation

On Wikipedia, it says this: "Ideation is the creative process of generating, developing, and communicating new ideas, where an idea is understood as a basic element of thought that can be either visual, concrete, or abstract." Yikes. Can't we just say, "coming up with ideas?"

12. Leading

Look at any company's description of itself in a press release or other material and there's at least a 50 percent chance that it will describe itself as "leading." It sounds good, but has no specific meaning whatsoever.

13. Low-hanging fruit

I've been guilty of using this metaphor for easily solved problems or easily obtained sales myself. But it's a badly overused phrase and we should all avoid it.

14. Methodology

This actually means "the study of rules and methods." A lot of people misuse it as just a longer way to say "method."

15. Negative growth

You may not like admitting that sales or whatever have decreased. But if you use this term, people will know that your numbers decreased and that you think they're dumb enough to be distracted from that fact by the word "growth."

16. Outside the box

This was probably a useful term once, but now using it indicates very inside-the-box thinking. Find a different term to describe innovative thinking. Or just say "innovative thinking."

17. Push the envelope

Similar to "outside the box." If you want to talk about completely new ideas or people who challenge existing norms, it doesn't make sense to use old, stale phrases.

18. Spitball

I realize this means "approximate" or "make a preliminary calculation." But can't we find a less disgusting way of saying it?

19. Utilize

Many years ago, a writing teacher told me that any time you use this word, you're really better off with "use." I have yet to find a time when he was wrong about that.

20. Thought leader

This term might have meant something once long ago, to denote a highly influential thinker like, say, Malcolm Gladwell. But these days, every executive, consultant, and author considers him or herself a thought leader. Time to jettison the term.

21. World class

See "leading" above. This term is almost as overused, and just as meaningless.

By Minda Zetlin

http://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/21-annoying-words-and-phrases-you-must-stop-using-right-now.html?cid=nl029week50day13