Stop Speaking in Jargon

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For example, if a company virtualized its 100 servers, the calculator shows that it could reduce more than 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, the equivalent of planting nearly 5,000 trees, taking 250 cars off the road, and eliminating the emissions from nearly 500 cows. (Yes, the calculator tracks cow emissions. How's that for a visual?) And the company saves more than $153,000 in server-related energy costs.

VMware's site succeeds because it takes a complex technology and paints a vivid picture of the benefits. You must do the same in your discussions. Replace buzzwords and jargon with tangible examples, analogies, comparisons, and real-world case studies to paint a verbal picture for your listeners.

Find the "Wow"

Meaningless jargon and buzzwords are so common they have become a national joke. On a YouTube clip from NBC's The Office, the former temp turned boss, Ryan Howard, explains a new initiative this way: "It's convergence, viral marketing, we're going guerrilla. We're taking it to the street while keeping an eye on the street. I don't want to reinvent the wheel. It is what it is." Funny, yes. But you hear this kind of thing all too often. Eliminate overused language or esoteric jargon from most of your conversations, especially with listeners who don't live and breathe your field.

I was once helping a CEO prepare for a major investment conference. I asked him how he planned to describe his company for analysts. Without flinching, he said: "Our company is the premier developer of intelligent semiconductor intellectual-property solutions that dramatically accelerate complex SOC designs while minimizing risk." At that point, I knew it was going to be a very long day. I kept urging him to simplify his message by asking him to "wow" me.

After 30 minutes, the exasperated CEO turned to me and said, "Look, do you have a cell phone?" "I sure do," I replied. "Our technology makes cell phones that are smaller, have longer battery life, and allow you to do fun things on your phone like play music and video." Now there's the wow. The difference, of course, is that he eliminated industry-specific jargon. He also won over his audience.

"A Touch of Genius and a Lot of Courage"

We can put an end to jargon-filled communications, but it will take commitment. Some people are afraid to make the change. Financial guru Suze Orman once told me, "People criticize simplicity because they need to feel as though the topic is more complicated. If everything were so simple, they think their jobs could be eliminated. It's our fear of extinction, our fear of elimination, our fear of not being important that leads us to communicate things more than we need to."

Albert Einstein once said: "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." Let's be courageous and put our ideas into plain language we can all understand.

Carmine Gallo, a business communications coach and Emmy-Award winning former TV journalist, is the author of Fire Them Up! and 10 Simple Secrets of the World's Greatest Business Communicators. He writes his communications column every week.