![\"\"](\"http:\/\/static2.hbr.org\/cs\/flatmm\/hed\/20130322_1.jpg\")
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It’s mission-critical to be plain-spoken, whether you’re trying to be best-of-breed at outside-the-box thinking or simply incentivizing colleagues to achieve a paradigm shift in core-performance value-adds. Leading-edge leveraging of your plain-English skill set will ensure that your actionable items synergize future-proof assets with your global-knowledge repository. <\/p>\n
Just kidding. <\/p>\n
Seriously, though, it’s important to write plainly. You want to sound like a person, not an institution. But it’s hard to do, especially if you work with people who are addicted to buzzwords. It takes a lot of practice.<\/p>\n
Back when journalists were somewhat more fastidious with the language than they are today, newspaper editors often kept an “index expurgatorius”: a roster of words and phrases that under no circumstances (except perhaps in a damning quote) would find their way into print. <\/p>\n
Here’s such a list for the business writer. (Thanks to my Twitter followers<\/a> for their contributions.) Of course, it’s just a starting point — add to it as you come across other examples of bizspeak that hinder communication by substituting clich\u00e9s for actual thought. <\/p>\n Bizspeak Blacklist<\/strong> Many of these phrases have become voguish in business — abstain if you can. Sometimes people use them to enhance their own sense of belonging or to sound “in the know.” Or they’ve been taught that good writing is hyperformal, so they stiffen up and pile on the clich\u00e9s. <\/p>\n Hunt for offending phrases: <\/strong>Start looking for bizspeak in all kinds of documents, from memos to marketing plans, and you’ll find it everywhere. You’ll eventually learn to spot it — and avoid it — in your own writing. You’ll omit canned language such as Attached please find<\/em> <\/a>and other phrases that only clutter your message. <\/p>\n Writing plainly means expressing ideas as straightforwardly as you can — without sacrificing meaning or tone. Think of it as bringing your written voice into line with your spoken voice. <\/p>\n Bizspeak may seem like a convenient shorthand, but it suggests to readers that you’re on autopilot, thoughtlessly using boilerplate phrases that they’ve heard over and over. Brief, readable documents, by contrast, show care and thought — and earn people’s attention. <\/p>\n This is the fifth post in Bryan A. Garner’s blog series on business writing. The series draws on advice in Garner’s new <\/em>HBR Guide to Better Business Writing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Post 1: Don’t Anesthetize Your Colleagues with Bad Writing<\/a><\/p>\n Post 2: A Well-Crafted Letter Still Gets the Job Done<\/a><\/p>\n Post 3: Write E-Mails That People Won’t Ignore<\/a><\/p>\n Post 4: Those Grammar Gaffes Will Get You<\/a><\/p>\n It’s mission-critical to be plain-spoken, whether you’re trying to be best-of-breed at outside-the-box thinking or simply incentivizing colleagues to achieve a paradigm shift in core-performance value-adds. Leading-edge leveraging of your plain-English skill set will ensure that your actionable items synergize future-proof assets with your global-knowledge repository. Just kidding. Seriously, though, it’s important to write plainly. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7456,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-648200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7456"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648200\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nactionable (apart from legal action)
\nagreeance
\nas per
\nat the end of the day
\nback of the envelope
\nbandwidth (outside electronics)
\nbring our A game
\nclient-centered
\ncome-to-Jesus
\ncore competency
\nCYA
\ndrill down
\nducks in a row
\nforward initiative
\ngoing forward
\ngo rogue
\nguesstimate
\nharvesting efficiencies
\nhit the ground running
\nimpact, vb.
\nincent
\nincentivize
\nimpactful
\nkick the can down the road
\nlet’s do lunch
\nlet’s take this offline
\nlevel the playing field
\nleverage, vb.
\nliaise
\nmission-critical
\nmonetize
\nnet-net
\non the same page
\noperationalize
\noptimize
\nout of pocket (except in reference to expenses)
\nparadigm shift
\nparameters
\nper
\nplanful
\npush the envelope
\npursuant to
\nputting lipstick on a pig<\/a>
\nrecontextualize
\nrepurpose
\nrightsized
\nsacred cow
\nscalable
\nseamless integration
\nseismic shift (outside earthquake references)
\nsmartsized
\nstrategic alliance
\nstrategic dynamism
\nsynergize
\nsynergy
\nthink outside the box
\nthrow it against the wall and see if it sticks
\nthrow under the bus
\nturnkey
\nunder the radar
\nutilization, utilize
\nvalue-added
\nverbage (the correct term is verbiage<\/em> — in reference only to verbose phrasings)
\nwhere the rubber meets the road
\nwin-win<\/p>\n![\"translateyourbizspeak.gif\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.hbr.org\/cs\/assets_c\/2013\/03\/translateyourbizspeak-thumb-580x349-3540.gif\")
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