Create More Value by Speaking Less Professional Jargon

At the beginning of each day, ask yourself these two questions to create more value for colleagues and clients.

• First, how do you create value during  each meeting and customer touchpoint: written, verbally, visually, and experientially?
• Second, how dependent are you on professional jargon to communicate your professional value to others?

If you target creating more value across the organization, then “unlearn” professional communication habits.

Being overly dependent on professional jargon to create and communicate value to other professionals creates one of two outcomes.

• When you overuse professional jargon, you consciously or unconsciously reinforce barriers to communication and collaboration across disciplines. Because your colleagues have their own forms of professional jargon, too. And when colleagues and clients sling their respective jargon around like confetti during Mardi Gras, everyone succeeds in making lots of competitive noise. However, noise does not equate to strategic business or human capital value, especially when people do not understand what you are saying. Today, determine your reasons for depending on professional jargon for value creation.
• Alternatively, when you use – and then translate – your professional jargon, you create the valuable and translational opportunity to build bridges across people and professional disciplines. For starters, everyone seated around the table reads, hears, and experiences the new terminology and new concepts. Next, everyone learns what these professional terms “mean” within everyone’s professional context. Then, everyone collaborates to understand the significance and value of these words and concepts when incorporated into their own, respective, professional contexts. Consider the key to more functional team meetings resides in taking this one millimeter step forward, together: today and moving forward.

You decide which of these two scenarios creates more enduring cross-functional value: for you, your colleagues, your employers, and your clients.

Consider that creating more value by speaking less professional jargon is an art form.

My musical training taught me that artistry happens at the interface created when the artists’ energy, acumen, and mastery interacts with the audience’s. As a result, there is a give-and-take between the medium communicating the message. As audiences are impacted and affected, there is change, which may be transient and transactional. Then again, this change may be more permanent, translational, valuable, and transformational.

When you choose to leverage your professional artistry – your knowledge and insights – more accessibly, you can affect change as well. Together. One millimeter at a time.

Begin each day by asking yourself these two questions as keys to more valuable and innovation professional opportunities.

1. How do I create value during every meeting, customer touchpoint: written, verbally, visually, and experientially?
2. And, how dependent am I on professional jargon to communicate my professional value to others? Especially when these people are not part of my own professional discipline.

Track your efforts for a week. Then click on this link and tell me what you found out about how to create more value by speaking less professional jargon. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Planning your next team, corporate or association meeting? Searching for a one-on-one catalyst to get you unstuck? Engage me to present a One Millimeter Mindset ™ program! Delivered virtually or in-person. Contact me here.

Babette Ten Haken | Change Catalyst | Purpose-Driven Professional Innovation | Cross-Functional Team Leadership | Trust-Based Client Retention | In Person & Virtual Speaker, Consultant, Coach, Author |

Babette Ten Haken is a refreshingly extroverted STEM professional focused on intentional professional innovation. Her ability to translate cross-functionally across left-brain and right-brain thinkers provides different pathways for behavior, response, insight, collaboration, and outcomes. Think of the strategic business and human capital value of moving beyond avoidance or group-think, together. Instead, let your creativity, critical thinking, and leadership skills co-develop together, one millimeter at a time. She is a member of ASQ, SHRM, PMI, and the National Speakers Association. Her playbook of cross-functional collaboration, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon.com. Contact Babette here. Image source: Adobe Stock.