Oxford University has a new piece of advice for its staff. Avoid “learn the ropes”. Avoid “find your feet” too. The university’s style guide warns that such idioms may confuse international students. Oxford says the guidance is advisory.
Choose the Right Language for Presentation Success
It is not alone. The Green Party’s inclusive terminology guidance steers members towards “parents and carers” and away from “mothers and fathers”. And in the Welsh Senedd, the Presiding Officer has stepped in when members called the 20mph default limit “blanket”. Yes, indeed. Public debating language in the Wales Senedd prohibits the word "blanket"!
Whatever you make of these "rules", you are a presenter. Your job is different. Your words must work for your audience, not for fashion. Helpfully, Oxford’s guide also contains a line any presenter could follow. It tells staff to use “common words, short sentences and familiar constructions”. That is close to what we teach here at Time to Market. Here are five tips.
Top Tips: Language for Presentation Success
Tip 1: Short
Use short words. Choose “use” over “utilise” and “start” over “commence”. Short words are quick to say and quick to hear. Your audience grasps your meaning at once.
Tip 2: Brief
Keep your sentences short too. Aim for an average of eight to twelve words. Vary them, but make a long sentence the exception. As we noted in Public Speaking’s Punishing Long Sentences, listeners can’t go back and re-read.
Tip 3: Familiar
Choose words your audience already knows. Anything that needs interpreting costs you their attention. Know your room: “learn the ropes” is clear to a British audience, but may puzzle a delegate from Seoul or São Paulo.
Tip 4: Spell
Don’t use abbreviations or acronyms. Spell everything out in full. What is obvious in your office is often a mystery in the room. Say it in full and nobody is left behind.
Tip 5: Plain
Leave out management speak and jargon. “Going forward”, “touch base” and “low-hanging fruit” say little and mean less. Say what you mean in plain English. We looked at this in What’s In A Word, when Jacob Rees-Mogg’s office style guide made the news.
Notice what these tips share. Each starts with the audience, not the speaker and not the fashion of the week. Choose short, plain, familiar words and your listeners will soon find their feet. Yes, that is an idiom. Whether you can use it depends on who is listening.
Pick the Right Words for Presentation Success
Choose the right language for your presentation and certainly don't let a Standards Commissioner tell you what words you can use.
For more public speaking and presentation tips, you’ll find our full series here. And when you’re ready to sharpen your own presentation skills, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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