Why You Should Do Away with Jargon

Some people love speaking in jargon, using fancy words and turning everything into acronyms. Personally, I find this simply slows things down, confuses people and causes them to lose interest. It’s far better to use a simple term and commonplace words that everyone will understand, rather than showing off and annoying your audience.

In some industries, technical terms are everywhere – especially in the financial sector. As somebody who didn’t understand the difference between net and gross for many years, despite running several billion dollar companies, I have always preferred when financial issues are explained clearly.

A few years ago we were looking into investing money in a financial company. The person I was talking to said: “We only have a 5% bid offer spread.” Later I asked one of my team what the guy was talking about. He explained how they were using jargon as a way of hiding the fact they were stealing 5% before we even started! Sometimes there are more sinister reasons for using jargon, and it is all too easy to fall foul of these tricks.

Do you wish people would tell it to you straight rather than blinding you with terminology? With that in mind, Virgin Money are lending a helping hand with some short videos explaining thorny issues like investment, mortgages and saving. My son Sam’s production company Sundog Pictures made the videos, so if they’re still too complicated, let him know!

A recent YouGov survey found 40% of people are interested in how to take care of their money. These people want more information on how to do so, and it isn’t always easy to find. Sometimes it’s good to think about how to bring the message to life. A three minute film can be a lot more effective than a 20 page presentation – and a lot more fun. If you can get your idea across with humour it helps too (which is why we got Peter Serafinowicz involved!)

Now, who can tell me the difference between net and gross? No Googling…