Jargon is a scourge because we all do it — there’s no judgement here. Brainstorming this list, I just had to think of things I’ve written to fill a bucket of jargon.
It happens for many reasons:
- We use it as a shortcut to express meaning — it’s a valuable stopping place, but not a place to stay.
- Sometimes our bosses literally ask for it or edit it into what we’re doing.
It’s not good. The very fact that jargon is a stop gap means that our eyes slide over it. Which means it is a waste of space because it doesn’t actually mean anything. That space is valuable — fill it with something else. Pick up the rock and look at what’s under it. That’s where the good stuff is.
Use jargon… but underline it and replace it in your first draft to go deeper into the meaning of what you’re sharing. What follows are five wide, sweeping concepts and generalizations that are used across B2B industries that we can avoid to make our work stand out.
“NOW MORE THAN EVER“
WHAT IT MEANS
- Meant to communicate urgency, meaningfulness, and prioritization
- Meant to reinforce what an important topic it is for executives to consider
WHY WE SHOULD STOP USING IT
- Requires a lot of trust — the reader has to believe you when you say it’s more important than ever before — do you have that trust?
- Think about Oprah saying something is important verses Gwyneth Paltrow — we’d believe one over the other
- It’s too vague to be true — this could be said of literally anything
ALLURING ALTERNATIVES
- Counter the trust factor: Say things backed by data or fact to require less trust
- Say why right now — COVID caused X change, customer behaviors have changed in X ways.
“DEEP DIVE“
WHAT IT MEANS
- Meant to communicate in-depth, worthwhile
- Meant to communicate that a lot of time was spent on this in preparation, it’s high quality
WHY WE SHOULD STOP USING IT
- So overused
- Diving is probably a mixed metaphor
- Deep does not necessarily mean extensive or fully covered or thorough
ALLURING ALTERNATIVES
- Quantify why it’s extensive and worthwhile
- Less about you (“We made this deep dive”) and more about the reader (“you’ll have a complete understanding and be able to do X”)
“THE NEW NORMAL“
WHAT IT MEANS
- Meant to convey that the world and the reader’s customer has changed, and so they should take action or change, too (by buying something)
- In the most positive light, it’s meant to provide guidance and consideration for people who may not be aware just how much things have changed
WHY WE SHOULD STOP USING IT
- Saying things have changed is again too vague and can be said about anything
- Overused
- At its worst, this is manipulative and tries to pressure people into “keeping up with the Joneses”
ALLURING ALTERNATIVES
- Explain the triggers of change and verify it with facts and statistics
- Link the changes to new behaviors to make all the connections clear — don’t present the outcome, show the evolution
SYNONYMS FOR “IMPORTANT, URGENT, CRITICAL”
WHAT IT MEANS
- Meant to share priority
- Meant to encourage people to pay attention and take notice
WHY WE SHOULD STOP USING IT
- This is a classic case of telling, not showing
- These words should never stand alone — in fact, do a Ctrl + F on your draft before you turn it in to remove all of these words
ALLURING ALTERNATIVES
- Answer the question of why it is important, urgent, or critical
- Explain the consequences (“It’s important because of you don’t do it, X will happen”)
SYNONYMS FOR “DIGITAL-FIRST, DATA-DRIVEN, CUSTOMER-CENTRIC, INNOVATIVE“
WHAT IT MEANS
- Meant to communicate the care taken in designing the product
- Meant to distinguish it from other products or point to roots of effectiveness other products don’t have
WHY WE SHOULD STOP USING IT
- So overused it is almost literally meaningless
- Falls into the category of telling and not showing
ALLURING ALTERNATIVES
- Show evidence of these things being true, such as an example of a product using data to do something or a feature that was generated by a customer
- Show the benefits of the thing being true, such as why you’d want something to be customer-centric in the first place, or why it’s important to be innovative instead of consistent
| [Icon] INNOVATIVE Explain what that means or an example. Use real-time data instead of historical data. | ||
Marketing managers are thinking about the product all the time
WHAT’S MISSING?
- Winning and losing (“If you do X, you’ll win”)
- Reaching your full potential as a company
- Growth hack, viral (SaaS/Marketing bros)
Handling “the talk”
A fine line we walk as B2B writers is that success has two definitions:
- Writing our best work
- Delivering what our clients want
Sometimes those two things are at odds. You can try to handle this conversation and push back when it’s really important, but you can’t push back every time or you’ll be a difficult person to work with.
Try this:
- I hear you want me to use the phrase X
- We can absolutely do that, and I defer to you on the final call
- But I want to point out that that phrase has really saturated the X niche, and it might be a big turnoff to executives at this point
Surprise Your Reader By Avoiding Jargon
This is not a reason to feel like a bad writer. We all do this. Deloitte does this. Gartner does this. We find cliches everywhere we go because we’re human and we use them. This is an opportunity to springboard your writing to be better — to catch your reader (The marketing manager) by surprise and subvert their expectations. This is what causes delight — when you take a surprising turn when they expected something else.