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I don't have a clue what you just said

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Published: 04Mar2008
Word count: 445
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Communication is, of course, about getting your message understood. Unfortunately, sometimes our messages are obscured by our language. Business people are outdone only by athletes, coaches, and sport reporters in this endeavor: "We had to drop back and punt because our end run was blocked." Huh? Unless you're a football fan, that phrase could easily be misunderstood. As popular as football is, not everyone is a football fan and not everyone understands what that means. The 2008 Super Bowl was watched by approximately 97.5 million viewers out of a U.S. population of approximately 301 million and a world population of approximately six billion. Even given football's massive popularity in the United States, if you use football metaphors to make a point, statistically two thirds of your audience may not understand what you mean. To be clear, I'm not opposed to using sports analogies or analogies from any other field. My concern is about the assumption that "everyone" will know what you mean without an explanation.

Do you use jargon, metaphors, and cliches as you try to convey business strategies and tactics to your colleagues, staff, and bosses? You know what you mean, but are you sure your listeners understand what you mean?

"Let's take a 30,000 foot view."
"We'll go for the low-hanging fruit."
"She really swings for the fence."
"I'll pencil you in."
"Let's do lunch."
"I'm going to be out-of-pocket for the next few days."
"Try thinking out of the box."
"Let's make it seamless."
"Is it scalable?"
"We need to reel in the big one."
"Let's take it offline."
"Does it have legs?"
"It's a slam-dunk."
"Can we make it a win win?"
"You guys need to step up to the plate..."
"We need to play offense."
"We need to play more defense."
"We're facing a lot of challenges."
"Does it have traction?"
"He's a spin doctor."

Look at the above list and think about what those phrases mean and how you could state the same thing in plain language. Listen to yourself and others talking in the workplace and notice how much jargon and how many cliches are tossed around.

In the classic novel "1984", Orwell writes of "newspeak". Newspeak was/is simply a means of rephrasing things we'd rather not hear. Thank heavens for Donald Trump when he says, "You're fired!" instead of "I'm not going to renew your contract." or "We need to move in a different direction." Just say what you mean and get on with things or, as author Meryl Runion says in her book Power Phrases, "Say what you mean, mean what you say, and don't be mean when you say it."

Don R. Crawley is a communication veteran. His career includes more than a quarter-century as a top-rated radio broadcaster and program director, author, musician, seminar leader, business owner, and public speaker. Today, his keynote speeches, workshops, and seminars help people from all walks of life understand and be understood. He blogs at www.communi-blunders.com. Reach him at don(at)communi-blunders.com.

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