Why do we become stunned whenever we get into a business atmosphere? Business-speak, that’s why. Business jargon can be annoying, but tell that to any business man or woman. They’ll barely even look at you. I mean, who cares if it’s annoying? Business is doing its job, and that’s to make money.
If there’s something the business world should be worried about, it’s clarity. Of course, they’ll say that they can all perfectly understand what they are talking about, but business doesn’t end at the conference room. Business goes beyond that. I’m talking about business writing because business doesn’t only involve gentlemen working in the same companies. It involves other parties, therefore it needs clarity.
Clarity is something business is bad at. I mean come on, with all those jargons and difficult to digest words, it’s no surprise that misunderstandings are common in the business workplace. Business jargon is neither informative nor precise. They’re not even the least bit professional. Although they do sound trendy and awesome, but nonetheless, they’re all just vague.
I mean, it’s alright if they want to use their jargon phrases and words over the workplace, but a writer should know better than to use the following words:
1. Paradigm Shift
Paradigms are widely accepted concepts of how things are.
A paradigm shift is a fundamental change in the underlying concepts and experimental practices of any particular discipline. The earth being flat was a paradigm.
To say that there is a paradigm shift means that something long believed to be true was just proven to be false. Let’s say “God created man” is a paradigm. A paradigm shift would mean that one genius proved that we were made by aliens instead of God.
2. Moving forward
We use the phrase “moving forward” when we want to end one part of a conversation and move to another. You may want to use this phrase when you want to move from one business chapter to another, but it would be much better to just skip this line.
Even though you’re already moving from one chapter to another, it’s not like can you end the conversation about the chapter. Even as you move through other pages, you’ll always be getting back to a specific topic from the previous chapters. That means you can’t possibly end a topic.
Using the said phrase may only confuse the people reading it, which lead us back to business having jargon being bad at clarity.
3. Rockstar
What comes to your mind whenever you hear the word “rock star”? I bet you think about all those cool and good-looking folks singing on stage, right? That’s what rock star are really known for. That’s what majority will probably think if you use the word “rock star” in one of your business letters. Well, that’s not all true. They’ll probably figure out that you won’t be talking about a celebrity in a business letter, but still, it’ll cause misunderstanding.
And if you’re lucky enough to come across a traditional-minded co-worker, he might even think that “rock star” means people who lived in the ancient times, living in caves, and running from dinosaurs and other ancient beasts.
4. Next level
All hail the next level. It’s one of the most popular phrases used in business writing. I mean, why not, we all get excited about getting to the next level? That’s what glues us in front of the computer screen when playing our favorite video games – to enter the next level.
The term next level has nothing to do with the business world, not unless you work for the video game industry. And even if that was the case, I doubt that it would be a viable excuse to use this phrase. There is no leveling in the business world, and since business is a serious matter, we should perhaps stick to words that give its direct meaning.
5. Results-oriented
This phrase is popular in a specific kind of business writing – resumes. Job applicants are fond of using a term like results-oriented, as they think it makes them look professional.
There’s only one problem, though. It’s not very realistic. Being results-oriented would mean that one only thinks about the results. Tell me honestly, do you really think that’s even possible? How can one produce results without thinking about the means? If there was one person you can think like this, it wouldn’t be someone any company would want. That’s because even with his results-oriented description, he still wouldn’t be able to do it.
6. Give 110 percent
We all know that we can only give what we have, but not the things that we don’t have. The “100 percent” symbolizes one person or being. Saying that you’ll be giving your 110 percent means there are two of you, which is impossible.
Business talk is the real stuff. Business mean don’t bluff. They talk about real matters. If start blabbering about things as ridiculous as this, they won’t listen to you. They won’t care about anything you have to say, no matter how valuable you think it is.
7. Pre-plan or pre-prepare
This one goes beyond the belt. It’s either you’re trying too hard to impress or you didn’t take the time to think about the words you’re using. Planning means you’re getting ready for a particular execution or action. The same goes with preparation.
That being said, it just doesn’t make any sense to add “pre” before the word since “pre” already means before. It’s nonsensical and redundant.
8. Thinking outside the box
This could be the most popular jargon phrase known to mankind. It’s an all-time favorite.
Just imagine yourself walking into a meeting when someone tells you that you need think outside the box. Hearing that phrase makes you feel all the brain power residing in the room when it’s actually the opposite. When someone uses the word “think outside the box” it means that they are not using their brain and they expect somebody else to do it.
All in all, make yourself clear when writing for business. Maybe you’ve been to business affairs a couple of times before. You think it’s alright to sue jargon phrases since everybody does it all the time, and the conversation is still clear. But you’re forgetting one thing: everything changes in writing.
When you’re out in the open talking to a bunch of colleagues, they’ll understand you perfectly. But when you’re writing about it, it will much more difficult to understand because the only clue they’ll have is the words you’re using. With that, you need to elaborate your statements when for writing for business.
Author Bio
James Blake is a team leader and senior contributor at write my essay He manifests traits of a Type A person –ambitious, competitive, and outgoing. Besides article writing and blogging, James loves sports analysis. He frequently places bets at fantasy leagues and also an avid fan of snowboarding.
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