What Does __ Mean to Listeners?
A friend who works for a leading NY landmark event venue recently remarked that they had a “buy-out” last week. “Really?” I said, “This famous landmark was sold!? Who bought it?” “Bought it? No one bought it,” she said. “But you had a buy-out,” I said. “Yes,” she replied. “XYZ company bought out the entire venue for its corporate event. What did you think I meant?”Given my Wall Street experience and clients, “buy-out” to me meant the venue had been sold. Therein, lies a trap presenters need to avoid.
Watch Your Jargon
When you watch any of the news talk shows, you’ll notice that the interviewer always explains, or asks panelists to stop and explain, terms, particularly acronyms like DACA (Deferrred Action for Childhood Arrivals), DOJ (Department of Justice), etc. Interviewers know that for a mixed non-government audience, these explanations 
are critical for understanding the discussion at hand.
So often we assume the buzz words and acronyms we use will be understood by our listeners. Not so. My suggestion is that you “scrub” your presentations of these terms and make sure you offer definitions for all of them, particularly when you present to a group of people from mixed disciplines: marketing, finance, IT, management, etc. What means one thing to one group will rarely mean the same to another.
Anne Miller
Words Matter – Make What You Say Pay
P.S. Forget the politics, a relevant interesting article ran today in Foreign Policy. It asks, how are Trump’s Tweets read in North Korea?
Make Sure Your Presentations are Crystal Clear & Compelling!
Call today for individual coaching or team workshops and learn how to turn
information that tells into a story that sells. 212 876 1875 amiller@annemiller.com
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“Anne and I recently worked together on a speech I gave at a large conference. She helped me turn a series of somewhat interesting points into an expertly crafted, compelling and actionable story. Together, we built a storyline with attention-grabbing headlines. We worked and re-worked the language, making sure every word was important. Finally, Anne coached me on the delivery. The result was so exciting – I’ve never been so well received in a speech before. Thank you, Anne!” Kate Griffin, Vice President, CFED.org
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