Business speak has long been a painful part of the commercial world. Sometimes people use it to demonstrate a supposed special grasp of their area of business and sometimes people use it because they feel as though they are obliged to. More often than not, neither works.
The Edinburgh International Book Festival recently hosted an interesting event which focused on business jargon. It featured Jamie Jauncey (pictured) and John Simmons, authors of Room 121. Designed for people who need to write business reports, marketing copy, advertising or internal communications, it argues that good communication relies on finding an authentic personal voice rather than trying to translate the story into business speak.
The BBC has a report on the talk here and BBC Radio Scotland’s Business Scotland programme has a podcast which, among other subjects, looks at business jargon.