Presentation Myth 7: the Need to Impress
Presentation Skills Myths and Realities #7
Many years ago, speaking at the South East Asian Writers Award ceremony in Bangkok, the celebrated – and controversial – author, Sir V.S. Naipaul, advised Asian Parents not to send their children to study English at his alma mater Oxford, and to be wary of all US and English universities.
He was concerned that these institutions were steeped in academic jargon that perverted thought and derailed clarity.
“Language has become a form of display”, said Naipaul, “A tremendous amount of dangerous nonsense is put out that feels very seductive in developing countries where people are so keen to learn”
“Something strange has been happening to the English language in the universities……it is a new form of academic showing off”.
Whilst I’d not go as far as Naipaul in regard to whether to attend these universities, his concerns about the increasing use of jargon, of ‘abstractions and big words’, infecting wider society were certainly profound.
A recent study by Professor Adam Galinsky, Columbia Business School, where his team reviewed 65,000 dissertations, identified 3 types of jargon: linguistic complexity, acronyms, and legalese.
Galinsky’s research discovered that the lower ranked schools tended to use significantly more jargon. Also, when conversing in pairs, those with a perceived lower status included more jargon, while those with the higher status focussed on articulating their thoughts.
“we use jargon”, says Galinsky, “ when we’re feeling insecure, to try to help us feel like we have a higher status”.
And whilst there’s arguably a time and place for jargon – within the confines of a team of experts in a specific field, for example – its use in everyday communication in the workplace can have serious negative consequences. These include not only miscommunication, but also alienating employees, reducing morale, and undermining team cohesion.
Recent research in the US revealed that 60% of Gen Z would like to see workplace jargon ditched completely. Apparently, the jargon voted most annoying was ‘drinking the Kool-Aid’, followed in joint second place by ‘it is what it is’, ‘empower’, and ‘leverage’.
(personally, I would add that HR favourite to the list: ’reaching out’).
One of the main reasons for using jargon, as Galinsky has indicated, is feeling the need to impress the audience or the readers. Whilst an understandable emotion, it should never be the driving force. When asked to make a presentation, write a report, or give an update, there’s no need to prove you’re knowledgeable – that’s already assumed, otherwise you wouldn’t be asked. Also, on top of using jargon or unnecessarily big words, feeling the need to prove knowledge almost invariably leads to far too much detail, and awful word-heavy PowerPoint slides.
The objective of any presentation is not to impress. It’s to express. Do that well and then you’ll impress.
