Writing is a hard craft. While you may think otherwise, it’s easy to understand why not everyone is a writer. You need to develop your own style and manner to be recognizable. And it’s important to pick up proper words. A good writer knows when to use slang and jargon in the text, and when it’s better to avoid them. – Business Jargon
Another point that proves that writing can be hard is the number of students who find essays the most difficult type of assignment. That’s the reason why certain students prefer to pay to have homework done rather than do it themselves. Ordering an essay guarantees that your assignment will be taken care of by professional writers.
Various paper writing services are basically involved in ghostwriting. Thus, they need to have a clear picture of whom they are writing for. Not on the individual level of course. But essay writing has its own rules, and students generally have a limited vocabulary. Now imagine a situation in which a writer doesn’t consider these things.
- Thinking outside the box;
- Value added;
- For all intents and purposes;
- Touch base;
- Promoting a synergistic team;
Those are typical examples of business jargon. And submitting an essay with such wording will definitely make your professor raise their brows. That’s one of the reasons why writers need to take control over jargon.
What Is Jargon?
But, who knows, maybe you will become a writer one day. And as such you need to be ready to fight with jargon. But before we go through several useful tips on how to avoid it, let’s figure out what jargon is per se. If you google the meaning of the word, most likely you will find three definitions:
- Specialized terminology associated with a particular field or activity;
- Obscure and pretentious language marked by long words;
- Confused unintelligible language;
While one can argue with the last two definitions of jargon, the majority of articles on the subject will agree that it is a usage of terminology that is typical for the particular field. And when writing something, you need to understand when to use it and when to avoid it. And to do so, you can use the following tips.
Recognize Your Own Jargon- Business Jargon
The first thing you need to do is to recognize your own jargon. It’s generally going to depend on your professional background. For example, if you have a legal background, there’s a possibility that your texts are going to be full of words like “aforementioned”, “above-mentioned”, “henceforth”, “hereby”, “wherein”, and “whereof”.
You can also use the word “shall” quite often. Legal writings are full of archaic words that have turned into obnoxious jargon. And if, after studying at legal school or having a career in law, you decided to write, you need to understand when to use those words. It’s better to avoid them, as they lose their popularity even in legal circles.
If you read a lot of business papers, surely you come across meaningless fillers like “integrating quality solutions” and “strategically engaging departments”. While it may say something to those who are related to the field, average readers will have to think outside the box to understand what you’ve meant. Being able to strategically engage departments doesn’t always mean that you can do the same with readers.
Determine Your Target Audience- Business Jargon
Speaking of readers, you need to integrate quality solutions. The best practice, in this case, is to determine your target audience. There is a chance that you are going to write for someone who is well acquainted with the subject, and then you can use involuntary undomiciled, instead of simply using the word “homeless”.
But in most cases, your audience will consist of average readers, which means you should avoid jargon. It will be meaningless to the readers, and your text will be difficult to read. You can use simple words in order to convey what you mean. Even if you are writing for a special audience, you need to make sure that your text is readable.
You can always use technical terms for particular readers, as it is the best way to communicate your idea to them. But you need to make sure that your usage of terms doesn’t go beyond necessary. Filling up your text with various specialized terms has little to no benefit. There are very few instances where it’s better to use jargonisms instead of common words.
You also need to consider your target audience when you use acronyms. If your text is designed for the non-specialist and you want to use CRM and ODD, don’t forget to mention that it is Customer Relationship Management and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Otherwise, readers will have a hard time understanding your text.
Even if your text is targeted at a particular audience, you should also provide the meaning for the acronym. While it doesn’t occur frequently, you can come across different things having the same acronym. TCP can stand for Tool Control Point, as well as for Transmission Control Protocol.
Keep Things Simple
From time to time, it may seem that avoiding jargon dumbs the text down. You want to show that you are extra smart, and know what you’re talking about. You might think that text with professional terminology shows you in a better light. That it shows you as an actual expert. It makes you more confident. But in reality, it only alienates the audience.
You can’t expect anyone who comes across your text to be as much of an expert as you. You can’t expect your readers to know what you are talking about. After all, most of the texts are conveying a certain message. And the wider the audience the message reaches the better. Thus, trimming down the jargon used in your writing only helps you reach a wider audience.
Final Thoughts
All in all, less jargon means a wider audience. You can reach average readers with posts and articles that contain little to no specific terminology. The absence of jargon makes the text more readable. However, in certain cases you can mix general and specific terms, so the text will reach two kinds of readers simultaneously. But that’s a different story.
