Today’s Morning Buzz is brought to you by Graham Smith, Library Operations Supervisor for the City of Happy Valley, OR. Connect with Graham via email.
- What I’m reading: “Learning Modern Linux: A Handbook for the Cloud Native Practitioner” by Michael Hausenblas
- What I’m watching: “The Umbrella Academy”
- A hobby I enjoy: Archery (recurve bow)
There are a few quizzes out there that let you measure your total vocabulary. I can’t vouch for their validity, but it’s nice to see myself in the top 5% of English speakers. “Wow! My education worked,” I think to myself, as if knowing the word skeuomorph will ever help me in the real world. It took me years of using fancy words to realize that it was making my writing, communication, and connection to the community I served worse. For longer than I’d like to admit, I was telling people that certain things were “untenable” and to have a “convivial” day. Top 5% English isn’t helpful for communication 95% of the time (citation needed).
As we learn and grow in our own little corners of the professional world, we start to speak the language. I know we have our own lexicon in the library world. Where one would call someone a client or a customer, we use the term “patron.” Are you wanting to look up a book? Well my friend, time to use the PAC (Public Access Catalog). Did you check-out that DVD? Au contraire, you actually “charged” that item to your account.
While each professions’ terminology is helpful for efficiency, internal understanding, and just sounding cool, it doesn’t do us any favors when we’re reaching outside. Take acronyms for example:
“Get that report on the IGAs and MOUs to the PIC by EOD.”
“LINCC is closer than WCCLS for me, but I’m an MCL guy all the way.”
“Mike’s the MIC, so give him the mic.”
I still have flashbacks to an advisory board’s minutes I saw once that had every term acronymized and not defined. It took me a bit of time to figure out that “BCC” meant “Board of County Commissioners.” If our goals include collaborative governance and public transparency, this doesn’t help.
What’s the solution then? Should we give up on acronyms? Is it time to discharge charge? Here are a couple tips for improving your cross-professional, public-friendly communication:
Tip #1
If you’re going to use an acronym, define it first (IYGUADIT). Remember to IYGUADIT.
Tip #2
Use second-person pronouns. It makes the audience feel like you’re directing the conversation toward them.
Tip #3
Stay aware of the Curse of Knowledge. Essentially, once you know something, it’s difficult to imagine not knowing it. If you learned the concept in your field, it’s probably a good idea to explain the concept to people outside of your field.
Tip #4
If in doubt, consult the Federal Plain Language Guidelines and the 1,000 Most Common English Words. These are especially helpful for direct public relations.
I’ve moved away from talking about how tenable things are, and you’d be hard pressed to find an email where I talk about skeuomorphs nowadays. Do I still like those fancy words? Of course! I also use my library jargon when talking to library colleagues. However, I’ve been keeping these tips in mind, and they’ve led to more successful communication and more connections with people outside my bubble of books. Top 5% no more; I’m going for top 100%.