Do you often marvel at the crazy language that passes for “marketing” and “communication” these days?
We’ve all been bamboozled by this kind of double-speak. Do any of these look familiar?:
disintermediate
drive
e-enable
embrace
empower
envisioneer
evolve
action-items
mindshare
paradigms
schemas
There are so many. (For fun, add your own in the comments below.) It’s the new illiteracy confusion trend.
Anyway, try to stay away from confusing, trendy words. Everybody can speak the basics and almost everything can be described in simple terms. Avoid complexity, and you’ll end up looking smart.
Stanford University did a study on intelligence perception that proves this out, in fact. Their research showed that people who write and speak in short sentences (while using short, simple words) are perceived as more intelligent than those who get crazy with big words and grammar complexity. It makes sense.. those who communicate well impart their knowledge more efficiently and effectively. (Ouch — ‘efficiently and effectively’ sounds like worn marketing-speak… sometimes it’s tough to avoid it.)
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