Nothing will help you lose your client or your audience faster than making them feel stupid…..so watch your language.
          Often in an attempt to appear intelligent, we use language that is misunderstood or intimidating to the person or persons we are trying to influence.
          Yesterday, I was reading a trade magazine article that talked about “heuristic evaluations”. Boy did I feel dumb. But I make a point of reading and learning every day, so I typed the word heuristic into my word processor then clicked on Language and Thesaurus. Ah ha! I’m not so dumb after all, my Thesaurus did not recognize the word either.
          Being relentless in my quest for knowledge, I will admit I did find the word in a good old Webster’s Dictionary. The context in which this trade article used the word still made little sense to me.
          In different articles in that same publication words like, ‘analytics’ and ‘temerity’ also had me feeling guilty about my lack of formal education. By the way, after searching three dictionaries I’m convinced there is no such word as analytics……although in my eyes the author appears to come from  the root word “anal” in analytics.
          Here is my point. When it comes to communicating or building relationships there is nothing wrong with using four-letter words. The shorter, more easily understood a word is, the more quickly you are likely to develop an understanding and a rapport with your audience and your customers.
          Using larger words to display your intellect, or worse yet, to unveil the recipient’s ignorance, is unforgivable.
          I think Nelson Mandela said it best when he said, “Speak to a man in a language he understands and it goes to his head. Speak to him in his language and it goes to his heart.”
          I’m suggesting that speaking or writing in a language that penetrates neither the head nor the heart is a waste of time and energy.