Poking through 11+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.

Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.

Bad writing isn’t age related. Bad writing spans all ages and keeps getting worse. You deal with it daily in email, web content, hardcopy marketing material, resumes, and, the worst, information and instructions from the boss. Decoding bad writing is not only time-consuming, but can also be downright scary if a design change or product launch depends on it.

Read other Golden Oldies here.

Bosses, business coaches, academics, bloggers and many others bemoan the lack of communications skills in Gen Y, especially written communications, but they have plenty of company in preceding generations.

Not just bad writing, but opaque writing, the kind that leaves readers scratching their heads wondering what they are missing.

Of course, I shouldn’t complain, since one of my company’s most popular products is Clarity RE-writing, which involves using the fewest possible words to present even the most complex information in the most understandable way.

Who are the worst writers?

Granting that many of Gen Y don’t understand the difference between writing and texting, I find lousy writing much more offensive when it comes from those who (should) know better.

And while the more lofty their position the more offended I am, I save my greatest reaction for those old enough and senior enough to know better who work in the field—in other words, they are, or should be, professional communicators.

Charles H. Townsend, the chief executive of Condé Nast Publications, which includes Vogue, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, is such a one. He recently sent a 500 word memo to his staff, here is a sample from it.

“…a consumer-centric business model, a holistic brand management approach and the establishment of a multi-platform, integrated sales and marketing organization.”… “To optimize brand revenue growth, we will shift responsibility for single-site, digital sales and marketing to the brand level. Publishers can now fully leverage their offerings across all platforms.”

Don’t feel badly if you aren’t sure what he is trying to say, his staff wasn’t sure, either.

If you want to write clearly here is some quick and basic guidance.

• • • Avoid jargon;
    • shun multi-syllabic words;
    • use short, simple sentences;
    • pass on large blocks of text, especially on the Net;
    • spell check everything; and, most importantly,
    • never forget that most people scan and don’t actually read.

Image credit: Karin Dalziel

Yesterday’s post about BS jargon seemed to be replayed in a pictorial of the atrocious, say-nothing advertising that graced the booths, many of which gave no hint as to the product.

Quartz reporter Mike Murphy summed it up nicely.

It’s like these companies spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to secure booths at CES, and then forgot to pay anyone to actually market whatever they were selling.

This is one of the most jargon laden.

You can check out the rest here.

Murphy was wrong on one point.

The companies probably spent as much, possibly more, on message creation.

And advertising companies don’t give refunds.

Image credit: Quartz

For better or worse I earn my living wordsmithing content, such as websites, blog posts, presentations, etc.

Today was definitely worse.

That’s because so many senior business people believe that stringing together trendy, multi-syllabic words spotlights their intelligence and impresses their target audience — whether investors, employees, or customers.

The presentation I’m working on is so loaded with jargon that I wonder if they didn’t use some equivalent of the The Corporate B.S. Generator I read about on CB Insights (the last item in the Blurb).

While I would never use a real excerpt, I used the BS Generator to create a bit of content similar to what they sent.

We at Opaque Inc. work hard to dramatically foster efficient technologies for our clients in an effort to globally customize specific integrated methodologies. Our goal is to overcome intervening challenges and quickly restore compelling value.

Are you impressed?

Do the ideas presented increase your confidence and enhance your desire to become a stakeholder?

Or are you more likely to walk away scratching your head and wondering what they actually do?

Image credit: Wikipedia

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Do you use jargon or plain English when you are discussing stuff with your team or presenting to investors?

Every industry has its own jargon, AKA, terms and language, that people tend to use without thinking.

Any given time period has its own catchphrases and clichés—also used without thinking.

The problem is the former can make a discussion confusing, if not downright inscrutable, to some listeners, while the latter can render your words meaningless—or both.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but when discussing words an example often provides the same clarity.

And far be it for me to spend my time creating one when a perfect example has already been done.

Read it, heed it and take your own precautions to avoid doing it.

Hat tip to KG Charles-Harris for sending the article to me.

Image credit: HikingArtist

Salvor Harding, a character in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, states a great truth when he says, “Violence is the last refuge of incompetence.”

I plagiarized that line and applied it to the business world, especially networking events and came up with this…

Jargon is the next-to-last refuge of incompetence.

But I have to say, people who break my rule sometimes leave me feeling incompetent enough to resort to violence to shut them up.

Flickr image credit: Gavin Llewellyn

Last Friday I cited HBS research that indicates that the best results are achieved when those in charge are both good managers and competent leaders and that the key factor is excellent communications.

Whether you think of yourself as a leader or a manager, communications is about more than talking clearly, it’s about providing all the background necessary for your people to understand why they are doing their jobs, as well as what jobs they are to do.

Think of it this way,

• operational communications provide people information on how to do their jobs, while
• management communications tell them what their jobs are and why they do them, giving form and purpose.

People need both.

Many of the problems that managers face daily stem from their own poor or inaccurate communications, often as a result of using jargon in an effort to sound sophisticated, knowledgeable and with it.

Jargon doesn’t work for several reasons.

• You may not totally understand or be comfortable with the jargon;
• your people may have their own individual understanding or be guided by their previous boss’ definitions that have nothing to do with your intended meaning. This happens often enough with words of one or two syllables, let alone multi-syllabic management-babble; or worse,
• your people may shut down when they hear jargon.

You can create a relatively jargon-less environment by

1. keeping it firmly in mind that your goal is to provide your people with all the information needed to understand how to perform their work as correctly, completely, simply, and efficiently as possible; and
2. providing clear, concise, and complete communications at all times.

Follow these two steps religiously and the results will amaze you,

• Productivity will skyrocket; which will
• make your company more successful;
• your employees happier; and
• you a more effective manager with better reviews and an enviable reputation.

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Be sure to check out this months Leadership Development Carnival; it’s been broken up to run over several days, so I can’t repost it here.

Flickr image credit: kevinspencer

See all mY generation posts here.