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Welcome to Econnect Communication’s February 2004 newsletter.
The theme for this month’s newsletter is "So what do you mean?" – a follow up to our last newsletter "Say what you mean".
If you have any feedback or ideas you’d like to add to our newsletter, we’d love to hear from you.
Regards, Econnect Communication Jenni Metcalfe, Michelle Riedlinger, Terri Telford
This month – February 2004 So what do you mean?
1. THINK before you speak… and act2. Breaking down the jargon – why the technospeak?3. What the…?4. Feedback from our last newsletter5. Subscribe to our free monthly e-newsletter6. Contact Us
By Jenni Metcalfe
Not long ago, a colleague sent me a short booklet providing guidance for NGO Boards. At the time I was working with a relatively new community Board and, thinking it would be helpful, I sent the Chairman a copy. Unfortunately, he saw my “help” as being critical of his performance. Of course, nothing was further from the truth – I had only heard good things about him and had been impressed by the little I’d seen myself.
If I’d just stopped to THINK (to consider the political dynamics of setting up community boards etc), I would have realised that my action could easily be misinterpreted. This brought home to me, once again, the fragility of communication – at both a personal and professional level – and how easy it is to be misunderstood and get the wrong message across.
One of the hardest things to comprehend is the impact we have on other people - how other people see us and what we do and say. However, how we are perceived affects our communication. Likewise how we perceive and understand others also affects our communication. I for one am someone who constantly needs my mother’s childhood reminder to think before I speak, to think before I act. (Come to think of it, my teachers were also saying the same thing – something about putting my foot in my mouth!)
In considering this further, I have come up with a set of suggestions to help avoid misunderstandings, using the letters in THINK: • Try to understand the other person’s perspective, perceptions and current concerns – this will also help shape clear messages • Hear what they have to say – active listening is a much under-valued communication skill • Indicate that you understand the other person’s concerns and needs – make it clear you know where they are coming from • Never presume to know what people want and what their concerns and needs are – ask them first! • Keep messages clear, simple and transparent (and think about what they could get wrong unless you make a point of stressing the correct information) 2. Breaking down the jargon – why the technospeak?By Jacqui Donegan, Southern Gulf Catchments
‘This is the sort of English up with which I will not put.’ – Sir Winston Churchill, 1948
As Southern Gulf Catchment’s new communication officer, I have to admit to a little trepidation about taking on the role … what’s all the technospeak and why does it exist and proliferate?
What are “WONS”? Sounds like something a fairy might carry. Who are “stakeholders”? Not something from a barbecue, I guess. And what about “capacity building”? This one was on my own job description … and, at first, I thought it was to do with stocking rates!
I’d consider myself fairly well informed, but this can be overwhelming at times.
Having saddled up and taken on the challenge, I now see my primary role as deciphering these processes and explaining them in clear and concise terms.
In the communication field, what I’m talking about is known as the plain English movement – something that I hope to put in place and convey to you so that we at Southern Gulf can make our work much more understandable, appealing – and democratic.
What is plain English? Either it’s crystal clear or it’s not.
Plain English is a campaign to ensure that written communication can be understood and acted upon from a single reading. Its main targets are government jargon, legalese, finance speak, and other confusing language. It considers the actual words used, as well as layout and typeface.
The movement began in England in 1979 when a literacy worker, Chrissie Maher, was outraged that two elderly women died because they couldn’t understand an application form for housing benefits. For ten years, Maher – herself a latecomer to literacy – lobbied for reform; in her most famous protest she shredded garbled government forms in Parliament Square.
Since then, in Britain alone 58,000 official forms have been rewritten, saving at least ₤500 million. The movement now has 3500 registered supporters in 75 countries and, in Australia and the USA, it has already become law in some sectors, such as insurance.
But why does jargon persist and continue to clutter messages that should be straightforward?
Well, as the former British PM, Baroness Thatcher observed, many people believe that flowery prose is a sign of intellectual might. It also can be used deliberately for concealment. For others, ironically, it’s an attempt to be precise that often leads to vague waffle and puzzled looks.
All humour aside, writing that isn’t simple and clear upon first reading is an erosion of the right to make an informed choice. A nurse who wrote to the Plain English Campaign remarked that jargon made her feel “hoodwinked, inferior, definitely frustrated and angry, and it causes a divide between us and the writer.” We at Southern Gulf agree.
Here are some clangers that were awarded the campaign’s Golden Bull for complication:
• A Birmingham professor who sought a ₤170,000 grant to unlock the mysteries of “cognitive management of consumer criteria for manufacturer parameter values in biscuit texture”. What? Well, he simply wanted to determine the link between biscuits’ texture and the pleasure of eating them.
• Then there was job advertisement by Safeway (known here as Woolworths) for an “ambient replenishment controller”. Is that someone to change the lightbulbs?
• Closer to Southern Gulf’s realm, a regional development agency in England defined its work: “Aligning the drivers, values, principles with the objectives is the key to unlocking the strategy. When they are fully aligned, they will illuminate the actions that need to be taken in the region.”
Let’s hope we’re never guilty of one like that! In case you’re wondering, WONS are weeds of national significance. Stakeholders are people with an interest or investment in an issue and capacity building is creating community confidence.
If you’d like to know more about the plain English movement, you can visit its Website at www.plainenglish.co.uk
3. What the …?Selected by Terri Telford
Misunderstanding is essential for a lot of humour, as the following joke illustrates:
A couple of hunters are out in the forest when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his mobile phone and calls the ambulance. He gasps to the operator: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator, in a calm soothing voice says: "Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is silence, then a shot is heard. The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: "OK, now what?"
4. Feedback from our last newsletter
We received many emails in response to our last newsletter. Thanks to everyone who took
Dr Rob Morrison, from Flinders University, says:
I love the notion of 'Say what you mean.' It might well be expanded to cover the most detestable cliches in journalism (and sadly, science journalism).
Chief on my hit list are:
Sporting teams that don't lose but which are 'bundled out'; Criminals etc who are 'gunned down' but never shot; "Feisty," almost always applied to women who demonstrate some degree of forcefulness; "Tucks into'' which seems to be a euphemism for eating, but one almost invariably applied patronisingly to old people, children, and especially people down on their luck who are enjoying charitable meals at Easter or Christmas; In science, of course, "breakthrough" to describe the most modest research achievement; and Why do people not just DIE of cancer - they are always described as doing so "after a long battle with cancer"?
Let's have a national cliche collection of these utterances to avoid. It might help journalists (and all of us) to avoid such horrors.
Cheers, Rob
Jan Tilden, Science Communicator at the Coastal CRC, says:
Can we add "linkages" to the list of evil words? "Utilise" is a particular favourite of mine - can't think of a single use where "use" would not be better.
Several of the bureaucratic clichés listed in the lead story are self-contradictory, namely "meaningful", "committed to" and "dynamic". It detracts from the meaning to use a cliché, if we really were committed to it we would surely try harder with the English and the use of bureaucratic jargon is hardly an indication of dynamism.
"Weasel words" is also in danger of becoming a cliché and when it does it will also fall into an opposite category to the above i.e. it will be self-instantiating (now there's an awful word) as opposed to self-contradictory.
Loved the spanner story. I guess you have all seen the Oxford Dictionary of Euphemisms "How Not to Say What You Mean".
Thanks Jan
Ann Grattidge, Regional Landcare Coordinator at Alice Springs, says:
I like your article on the power of stories. I think it is something we've lost from our culture yet still value very strongly. Why does information/ life have to be serious?? Why can't it be fun?
I agree communication is about relationships. Relationships have different degrees of depth. Relationships can range from quite superficial and shallow to very deep and in tune. A deeper level of communication means coming to a point where two people can start to visualise and see where each other is coming from. Actually making an effort to try and see something the way the other person might see it and why. Not just what they are saying but the feelings and emotions behind the words/language.
Why might those emotions exist and how permanent or significant are they? Are they open to have their world view challenged or are they very firm in their ideas? Someone might say I believe..... such and such... but a hidden meaning behind the words might be "I'm not really sure but I'm going to put it out there and if you can come up with more information I might reassess my position if you allow me do so without making me feel stupid".
Communication means listening and investing energy in trying to understand another persons/communities point of view - something we don't often do. It's a fine art figuring out the meaning behind the words.
Ninety percent of our communication is in the body language the tone and energy of our voice. Yet what are we doing? Relying more and more on the written word. It's like we're struggling to be understood and we're not feeling like we're been understood so we're using the written word and different words more and more. Hoping by using this tool and playing around with it, the communication barrier will finally break. Ha. It's a bit like shouting at someone who speaks a different language and expecting to be understood just by increasing the volume.
The solution lies in a different approach. It means taking a step back looking at the problem for what it really is and changing your tact. People actually want to be understood before they have to understand someone else. But that takes time and energy and putting the needs of others first. Effective communication is damn hard work because it means giving out energy rather than receiving it.
5. Subscribe to our free monthly e-newsletter
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6. Contact Us
Econnect Communication works with science, environment, ecotourism and natural resource management agencies to:
Contact us: phone 07 3846 7111; email admin@econnect.com.au Website: http://www.econnect.com.au New tips: http://www.econnect.com.au/news_qt.htm
© Econnect Communication Pty Ltd, 2004 Articles in this newsletter can be reproduced if Econnect Communication Pty Ltd is acknowledged as the source
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