Just Jargon

You do need jargon sometimes. Otherwise, there are times when people don’t take you seriously. It’s when jargon overpowers what is being said or puts it into the realms beyond understanding that the problems begin. Then, you either turn your reader off because he realizes that there is no content worth mentioning or you turn him off because he gets lost in the jungle of jargon and can’t understand what you are saying. If you are trying to impress the reader, forget it. You’ll lose your readers so fast, there won’t be anyone left to impress. A reader needs to feel that there’s some kind of take-out value for him. So what you get is his time. And that’s the most valuable thing you can ask for. In that time, you have to interest him, hold his attention and sell to him. The selling could be an idea, a way of looking at things, a product or a service. What jargon very often does is to derail this process. It’s a distraction unless it’s very essential to the communication. Look at something you read the last time. Did it draw you in or turn you off? If it did turn you off, it could have been because it had nothing to say that you didn’t already know, or it was boring or it had too much of jargonese. Try not to put the fences of jargon up in your writing. It will only keep the ones you want to attract away.

What exactly is jargon and how does one avoid the jargonese epidemic? All jargon is not bad. It’s when you use jargon for jargon’s sake or to confuse or when you don’t have anything worthwhile to say that it becomes de trop. There are times when you need to use jargon, when your readers are not simplistic creatures but highly skilled and waiting to learn more, be exposed to more. Then you can knock it to them and it would be more than welcome. But when you try to be superior, when you try to confuse, when you use jargon as a crutch to try to appear to know a lot more than you do, beware. It’s a dangerous jungle you’re entering and it could just swallow you up in its devious paths.

Finally, when it’s a toss-up between the simple way to explain something complex and the jargon jungle route, remember that simple wins hands down every time. There will be more people who read it in today’s fast-paced world and simple stuff goes down quicker and better as a lot of people don’t have the patience to read anything afflicted with jargonese. So stick to the straight, the simple and the easy. Spice it up along the way with a stopover for a jargon high if you like but get back on the road very fast before the thrill of a jargon shower begins to irritate. The great old man of advertising, David Ogilvy always had a piece of advice for his creative teams: The consumer isn’t a moron – she is your wife. While some might not see the difference, it pays not to treat your reader like a moron – they might just turn and walk out on you!