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Welcome to Econnect Communication’s January 2004 newsletter.
The theme for this month’s newsletter is "Say what you mean". In our work with many Natural Resource Management agencies around the country, we are often baffled by the jargon, acronyms and bureaucratic language that seems to be breeding like rabbits.
We have decided to make 2004 the year of plain and simple English for Econnect. We are in the process of revising our website to meet this goal (ready for our next newsletter) and have a top 10 hit list of words and phrases we want to avoid this year in our communication activities:
If you have any thoughts on this theme or 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 – January 2004 Say what you mean
1. Tell stories instead2. Weasel Words3. Death Sentence review4. OBFUSCATION: Death Sentence review5. To throw a spanner in the works…6. Wisdom from Alice in Wonderland7. Subscribe to our free monthly e-newsletter8. Contact Us
1. Tell stories insteadBy Jenni Metcalfe
Every day we are bombarded by facts and figures and language that just seems to float over our head and then rip right out into some undiscovered black hole. And we wonder why people don’t do what we thought we explained clearly was a very good thing for them to do if they wanted to save the environment, improve their profits or just enjoy their life more.
We have all become trapped in some jargon jungle, which even the originators of the jargon don’t seem to understand anymore!
I have been involved recently in a communication strategy for one of the Regional Natural Resource Management Plans being developed for Queensland. Reading the “Guidelines for Developing a Regional Natural Resource Management Plan in Queensland” made me realise how obscure we had become in our language. Take the following paragraph (page 10 of Sept 2002 draft): “Where possible, linkages should be made with identified existing consultation processes for other regional and local planning, maximising the potential for a holistic planning framework for sustainable Queensland.”
What on earth does that mean? How are regional community groups meant to make sense of this? Perhaps they really mean something like: “Try to find out what other relevant projects have been or are still going on in your region to avoid duplication of work and to find ways of sharing knowledge so that your planning makes sense to the community and fits within the bigger picture.”
Whatever… as communicators we need to realise that language can be powerful and it can exclude whole sections of the community if it is not plain and clear.
After 15 years of work as a “communicator”, I think the light has only recently been switched on in my brain about the true essence of communication. It’s about relationships and one of the best ways of developing relationships is to tell stories. And not boring stories with lots of phrases and words that people don’t understand. We all want to hear stories that gain our interest, our attention and even our passion.
I have heard it said that one of the best ways to get a politician involved and interested is to tell them a short story. Kids, of course, like the same thing. And I reckon the rest of us remember a good yarn a lot more than anything much else.
2. Weasel WordsBy Rosslyn Beeby
Angry residents in a small Blue Mountains town recently called a public meeting to oppose government plans to build a four lane freeway through their local shopping centre.
Building the freeway would involve demolishing the fifties-style local pub as well as several cafes and shops.
Emotions were running high, with people demanding urgent action from local politicians.
Absolutely, said a member of a local community action group. The local pollies should commit to developing a sustainable solution based on preserving the amenity of local lifestyles while confirming the values of environmental excellence that underpinned the World Heritage significance of the region.
Naturally this pithy statement wasn’t reported by local media. Nor did media express the faintest interest in a following up a lengthy press release that appealed to the government to consult with all relevant partners to develop a suitably empowering communication process.
This kind of obscure, convoluted language doesn’t quite drive journalists to despair – it just drives us to either delete your emailed media release after reading the first paragraph or to quickly whip your carefully crafted media release into one of the numerous big yellow recycling bins throughout the newsroom.
We don’t want to know about facilitated outcomes. We want to know what happened. We don’t care about consensual partner participation - its sounds like a backyard barbecue for a bunch of swingers.
When we receive a media release written in this obscure jargon, we joke that’s it’s written in “fluent partner” and in the bin it goes. We receive hundreds of media releases every day and we simply don’t have time to puzzle over what “strategically targeted community empowerment” could possibly mean.
Say what you mean and use active language. Tell us that local residents are angry at being overlooked by a state government that plans to bulldoze the popular local pub - not that local partners feel a more appropriate and inclusive consultation route might have been considered to uphold community values.
This obscure jargon has been unkindly called “weasel words” – but this does weasels a gross injustice. Weasels are feisty creatures who don’t seek a strategic opportunity to engage their dental instruments with a suitable obstacle. They bite.
3. Death Sentence ReviewBy Michelle Riedlinger
Use more verbs, be descriptive, and use plain English…this may be writing common-sense but it is also the message from Don Watson in his recent book, Death Sentence, a must-read for anyone working or dealing with government agencies.
Don pleads with his readers to stop using words that only seem to have meaning such as “hopefully” and “in terms of” – cut out the unnecessary and replace them with something that might touch those who are reading your words – surprise them.
Don doesn’t offer many solutions (and can fall into the trap of being a little too wordy himself) but he does plead with us to stop falling back on the turgid clichés that come to mind. Why do we need a window of opportunity? Wouldn’t an avocado of opportunity do just as nicely?
We don’t need “commitment” to things, we just need to be doing them. We might need “transparency” in our dealings with others but we also need other words to describe this – honesty, fairness and responsibility. As Don says, “If writing doesn’t hurt, we aren’t trying hard enough”.
Death Sentence is chock full of quotes from other writers and you can open most pages and find something inspiring. We need to bring a sense of humour to our writing. Don suggests a 12-month moratorium on certain words and phrases and my favourites are: - at the end of the day - in terms of - commitment - enhance - key - issue - impact - outcome - implement
So kick the envelope, find an avocado of opportunity, and use more adjectives besides robust, vibrant and enhanced. After reading this book I’ve been spending more time on my writing and that’s got to be good…but it can make my head hurt.
4. OBFUSCATION: Death Sentence ReviewBy Merrick Ekins
Don Watson's recent contribution elucidates the flowery language that is English for what it is becoming - a smokescreen for pompous politicians and bureaucrats.
Most directives from above in management and political doublespeak are devoid of meaning, but filled with enough weasley words that it appears to have substance. Don provides a good humorous look at language, with some excellent examples and let's hope some managers and politicians may take note.
This would have made a great article, and why take a book for what could be described more succinctly? Summed up early on page 23 with, “the best kind of writing...is writing we don’t notice…to convey information accurately and precisely”.
Among the sparks of humour and passages we don’t notice, Don will also have to take note of the standards he sets. Obfuscation - we see it every day on bank bills, email signatures, newspapers and chook feeding sessions…so why add another book to an overloaded pile, but perhaps Don is just preaching to the converted.
5. To throw a spanner in the works…By Terri Telford
NOT saying what you mean can be an art form. Language would be boring without using similes, metaphors, and other attempts to illustrate meaning. Here are some recent examples I appreciate: - A contestant on Survivor, when trying to explain that he was disappointed in a prize, said "it was like asking for a Hulk action figure for Christmas and being given a Barbie doll that's painted green". - My friend, drawing a blank on the word "mullet", explained the haircut as being "business on top, party at the back". - A lottery prize winner said he felt like "a mosquito in a nudist colony". - An anonymous review of a Brisbane based singer stated "she had a voice so husky it could have pulled a dogsled".
It's more fun to read material when the author has made attempts to illustrate the meaning. So why say that someone is skinny when you can say they'd have to run around in the shower to get wet?
6. Wisdom from Alice in WonderlandSelected by Terri Telford
The Mad Hatter and March Hare from Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll, 1865) think everyone should say what they mean:
‘Your hair wants cutting,’ said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech.
‘You should learn not to make personal remarks,’ Alice said with some severity; ‘it’s very rude.’ The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, ‘Why is a raven like a writing-desk?’
‘Come, we shall have some fun now!’ thought Alice. ‘I’m glad they’ve begun asking riddles.—I believe I can guess that,’ she added aloud.
‘Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?’ said the March Hare.
‘Exactly so,’ said Alice.
‘Then you should say what you mean,’ the March Hare went on.
‘I do,’ Alice hastily replied; ‘at least—at least I mean what I say—that’s the same thing, you know.’
‘Not the same thing a bit!’ said the Hatter. ‘You might just as well say that “I see what I eat” is the same thing as “I eat what I see”!’
‘You might just as well say,’ added the March Hare, ‘that “I like what I get” is the same thing as “I get what I like”!’
‘You might just as well say,’ added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, ‘that “I breathe when I sleep” is the same thing as “I sleep when I breathe”!’
‘It is the same thing with you,’ said the Hatter, and here the conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute, while Alice thought over all she could remember about ravens and writing-desks, which wasn’t much.
7. Subscribe to our free monthly e-newsletter
Subscribe/unsubscribe: send email to admin@econnect.com.au with “subscribe” or “unsubscribe” in subject line. View past newsletters: http://www.econnect.com.au/news_newsletter.htm
8. 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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