A mini reminder

Whenever I talk about avoiding jargon/ businessspeak/ corporate gobbledegook (and a couple of other obvious but less polite terms), I refer to what I call the 'red mini moment.'

By which I mean ... you know when you're thinking about buying a new car?  You start pondering what car to buy, and then you think 'hmm, I really fancy a red mini' (for example).  Have you ever noticed that from then on, you start seeing red minis everywhere?  "Blimey!" you think to yourself. "I never realised there were so many red minis on the road".

Ah, but there were - it's just that you weren't looking for them. Now you've put a sign up there in your head saying 'interested in red minis', suddenly your brain starts pointing them out for you, where previously it wouldn't have bothered.

That's my theory on corporate jargon, too. It creeps up on us. We start using it without even noticing. But give yourself a nudge now and again to remind yourself that this kind of language is cringe-worthy, meaningless and provokes much rolling of the eyes amongst employees, and your brain starts noticing the next time you think about using it.

So, here's a red mini moment for you. I was just hunting around for some prime examples of mind-numbing corporate speak and came across Nick Selby's blog and his '2007 BullshIT awards - the top ten tech-flack quotes of the year.'  Have a read, have a good laugh, and then repeat after me: "I must not talk/write meaningless rubbish in my communication ...."

Sue