Insincere, vague and overcomplicated — Business lingo worth avoiding

I am all for expanding our vocabulary to be more flexible and effective in communication.

But a “pet hate” (minor annoyance) of mine is phrases that are annoyingly vague, overcomplicated or insincere.

And some of these I use way too often.

?? Insincere

How often have you opened a message with “Hi [Name],?I hope you are doing well"?

I use this phrase too often. Sometimes I mean it.?

But, often, I don’t know the person well enough to be entirely sincere.

Just a friendly reminder.

Often, there is not much “friendly” about this — it’s just a reminder.

Most people secretly dislike these "friendly reminders."

I prefer to send “reminders” because it is more sincere.

Another one I occasionally use is?fair enough.

Sometimes this can mean “I don’t know what to say, so… fair enough.”

Other times, this is a bit more dishonest, meaning “I would like to end this conversation so… fair enough."

?? Vague

We need to raise our standards/game?is unhelpful because it’s unclear?what?we must improve and?what steps?we need to take.

I’ll get back to you?is frustrating because it puts a giant question mark on this task.

We don’t know when (or whether) it will go ahead.

Setting a clear date (even if it has to be adjusted later) is much more helpful.

Leverage?is a buzzword welded into finance vocabulary. It means to use something for its maximum benefit.

But often it is unclear what steps we have to take, and what “benefits” we are talking about.

So it can be better to get specific:

? “Can we leverage…?”?

? “Can this opportunity bring more visibility to…?”?

?? Overcomplicated

Using impressive vocabulary when a simple alternative would suffice — sometimes this alienates your listeners, and often it makes your message confusing.

Utilise?means “make effective use (of something)”. So it’s slightly different from “use”.?

But that’s not how most of us use the word — so it often ends up as an overcomplicated version of?use.

Ameliorate?means to make something bad better.

But most of us use it the same way as?improve.

Modality — I’ve got nothing. It just means?way?to me.

Equitable?— just say it’s?fair.

I was tempted to include?optionality?in this list.

But it serves a purpose.

Plus, I know I would get in trouble with finance people for this!

I might be on a rant here (I am on a rant here).

Don’t get me wrong, I see the value in jargon, buzzwords and expanding vocabulary.

But sometimes, they get vague. Sometimes, they confuse our message.

And sometimes, they take away from the value we contribute.

Can you resonate with any of these?pet hates?

Do you have any of your own ?

Do you use these phrases all the time, and now I’ve offended you? ??

I’d be interested to hear your opinion in the comments.

#ExcelwithRyan #CommunicationSkills #CorporateFinance #InvestmentBanking