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."
"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.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment