Unlearning Jargon

How can you stop the habit of jargon?

The most basic reply to my fight against jargon has always been: Well that is just the way we talk around here. That is how we speak in our niche. To which I usually reply: No, that is the way you taught yourself to speak in an effort to fit in. Not a very popular reply I must admit, but the truth usually hurts a little bit.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the idea of unlearning. To forget and stop doing (something, such as a habit) in a deliberate way because it is bad or incorrect. To undo the effect of and discard the habit of…

What if we view jargon as a bad habit? Can we unlearn this habit? Compare it to smoking. All the cool kids are doing it, so you feel pressured to also do it to fit in. But what would it mean if you worked in an environment where jargon had been banned? Just as most smokers are now confined to small cubicles outside the office to get their share of nicotine?

• Would it be possible to take jargon out of a company?
• Would it be possible to unlearn jargon?

Open, clear and authentic

This will be the next part of my fight against jargon. I have been fighting jargon for a couple of years now and focusing on getting my point across that jargon is wrong in many ways. Especially in the current online landscape where clients focus more and more on openness, clarity and authenticity. Not the best time to be hiding behind large words.

Read back to my previous posts if you want more background… but I truly believe jargon to be nothing more than a bad habit which is standing in the way of clear, honest and human communication.

1. Defining jargon

First thing to unlearning is finding out what we actually have to unlearn. What does jargon mean within your company? I think jargon = every time you use language to create a distance between those that know and those that don’t know. Jargon is the language of exclusion. Or to flip it. It is the language of the inner circle.

Jargon is the language of exclusion.

It will take at most two months for new workers to be assimilated and they will use the same words as their peers. Whether they understand what is being said is beside the point. Fitting in is what matters and with that comes using the same language as the inner circle. Jargon is the language of the inside. It is the language of conformity. It does not matter if it hinders clear, human communication because of the unwritten rule: that is how we speak around here.

2. Admitting you have a problem

The first step to breaking with a habit is admitting you have a problem. And as I stated at the beginning of this article, most people do not see a problem in their use of jargon. Just like the warnings on cigarettes most people will ignore signs that they are actually addicted to jargon. And that jargon and acronyms are just gateway drugs to total corporate bullshit addiction. Some people will get so addicted to jargon abuse they will become utterly incomprehensible. Except to other mumbling jargon junkies.

Jargon and acronyms are just gateway drugs to total corporate bullshit addiction.

Okay, I went a little bit overboard there with the metaphor, but you get the point. For many people jargon is a way of life and they have connected some self worth and parts of their ego to the words they use. Breaking through that and admitting that jargon is getting in the way of helping visitors become clients and that it is actually bad for business if people have no clue what you are talking about… that is the epiphany we must strive for.

3. Jargon as a bad habit

To view jargon as a problem is one step. For us to change we however must also see it as a bad habit. As something that is actually bad for our company. The simple fact at the end of the day is this: if your visitor does not understand what you are saying he or she will simply leave. All your beautiful content, all your calls to action, all your landing pages will have been made for nothing. No understanding means no trust means no chance of converting. Understand that and see jargon for what it is. Jargon is content obesity. Your website is getting fat off words that have no value and just as obesity it is slowly killing your company.

Jargon is content obesity.

4. Understanding that jargon is a made-up language

Jargon is not real. It is not part of our natural vocabulary. It is not something we need on a day to day basis. It is not part of our natural way of conversing. The words we use in jargon or the acronyms we use to define have all at one point or the other been made up. To describe a special technique or service. To make a product sound nice. To make stuff sell. With everyday use within the company these words have become a part of our normal conversational language… But however we like to think jargon is normal language. It is not. These words were invented by people within the inner circle for people in the inner circle. Take them away and communicate in words everybody understands.

5. Taking jargon down from its pedestal

For jargon to be seen as a bad habit we must bring it down to earth. We must take it down from its pedestal. Believe me I have seen many people who find some measure of personal fulfillment from using jargon. Jargon is often connected to the ego. You understand the special words that come with your position and when people do not understand what you say it is because they are not in your position. So people lower in the pecking order of your corporation will emulate that speech to at least feel on the same level as their superiors. Wrong. That is why taking away jargon is so scary to many people. Not using jargon is the great equalizer. If everybody can understand what the other is doing it usually turns out it is not all that important what your superior actually does on a day to day basis. The special words connected to that job give him or her power. So take that power away and see if you can still function without hiding behind large words.

Not using jargon is the great equalizer

6. Detaching jargon from your culture and vice versa

If the culture of your company is healthy and based on human values, there will be no need for jargon. Think about that one for a minute. If you read the part above and nod that this is the culture in your company then you have a serious problem. Culture is content. And a culture poisoned by jargon — where jargon is used for hierarchical ends — will put out content where the emphasis is on the use of that jargon. Clear language makes everyone equal. Strive for a culture where everybody speaks and understands the same language. And stop using jargon to divide and conquer.

7. Stop teaching jargon

Before people will enter your firm they will go to school… where they will already learn to use the right words to go with their future profession. What if we stop teaching our kids jargon? Seriously. Just stop teaching jargon as part of the needed education for a certain profession. If we want to stop the jargon habit we will have to start at the roots. Stop filling the heads of future entrepreneurs or co-workers with words that have no actual meaning.

Want to help me fight jargon? Connect on Twitter: @CopyDimitri