Are your business presentations easy to understand? Do you make a special effort to speak in simple English?
In the past, professional speakers worked hard to speak in expert lingo. The belief was that scientific jargon and technical terms made the speaker sound more credible.
And, in addition, the eras of ‘corporate jargon’ demanded a certain kind of passive, formal language. Sadly, this language is covers up brilliant ideas with a pile of sand, and relegates even the brightest insights to a dismal sandbox.
Formal jargon kills creativity faster than putting a living body into a coffin.
Still want to rely on stilted formal language? I doubt it. Not if you want to achieve a powerful impact in your presentation.
Fortunately, things have changed. These days, speaking plain language is the key to winning over any audience. And I mean any. Top CEO’s. Senior board members. Serious venture capitalists. Governmental officials. Scientific review boards. Any audience.
You become more believable, and more credible, when you speak in conversational terms.
At first, if you’ve been used to speaking ‘corporate-ese’ this is a big challenge. You worry and fret that you won’t appear appropriately formal for your audience. You are concerned that you will be different from all the other presenters on the agenda.
And you are partially correct. You will be different. But, in a good way. You’ll be the best presenter in the crowd. You’ll be easy to understand and easy to remember.
A friendly and conversational tone in your presentation announces that you are open to doing business in a fresh, current manner. Your tone sets the tone not only for your presentation, but also for the content and quality of whatever you are offering.
This friendly conversation is the mark of a professional who is open to new ideas, open to change and most importantly, open for collaborative business. If you want to set the tone with your clients for creative collaboration and sincere partnership, speak in simple terms.
While your industry and marketplace may have unique norms and standards for formality, stretch the limits. Experiment. Find out if you are accurate in assuming that an extreme formal tone is required. Find out if this formality is working, or if it makes you appear contrived and stilted.
Once you experiment, be ready to adapt and flex your style. I expect you’ll find a more conversational tone opens up conversations, expands discussions, and speeds decision-making.
Use these practices to speak like a human being.
Let me know how this works for you.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
This article totally syngergizes the out-of-the-box thinking that pushes the social media envelope. Just kidding.
I COMPLETELY agree with points in this article. I do feel that some people rely on corporate jargon like a verbal ‘crutch’. It’s really tempting to throw around buzzwords, but this often results in loss of clarity. Keep it simple & get to the point! :)