Good to see the London Evening Standard among those fighting the good fight against corporate jargon. Lucy Tobin points out that bankers and other City people are particularly prone, with lots of ‘ballpark figures’ instead of estimates, ‘talking offline’ instead of a private conversations or gossip, people being ‘incentivised’ rather than paid. ‘When did business talk become so moronic?’ she enquires. Lucy puts it down to a nasty outbreak of David Brent-itis, or perhaps a more sinister aim to make the unpalatable sound more palatable, such as ‘trimming headcount’ instead of losing jobs. When used by corporate spokespeople in interviews, such terms merely distance them further from the rest of the population, and are less likely to engender appreciation of their viewpoint. The trick is always to think ‘how would I explain it to my auntie?’ rather than ‘how can I score a full house at buzzword bingo?
Tom on X
How do you cope if a broadcast interview becomes more aggressive than you were expecting?
We can now offer on-camera and autocue skills coaching for spokespeople who have to present online video material or webinars.
