A way to reduce management speak
“Here’s the thing . . . blah, blah, blah . . . here’s the thing . . . blah blah blah . . . here’s the thing.” Recently I sat in a workshop where the workshop leader interjected the “Here’s the thing” phrase every 30-45 seconds.
‘Management speak’ (using popular buzz words/phrases) will probably never go away. One way to make sure you limit your ‘management speak’ is to audio-record a parcel of your speaking at your next meeting or sales presentation. Just place your smart phone or other device in front of you and click the voice recorder application before you start speaking.
Playback the recording and check for management speak, and for other jargon or unclear words and acronyms. Reflect on what words/phrases you could use to replace your management speak and still convey your thoughts and ideas. For example, for a number of years I’ve banned the phrase ‘add value’ from my speaking lexicon. The phrase I replace it with is, ‘contribute worth’.
The ‘how to apply‘ for this post: As suggested above, audio record your spoken messages, playback the recording and consider how you can replace any management speak with other words and phrases.
