A Professional Writer's Ladder to SuccessTM
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Overused Words & Phrases
Today's business world is awash in overused buzzwords, usually related to past "management trends du jour." You've seen many of them on those obnoxious "motivational" posters hanging around offices, and you've definitely heard them ad nauseum in meetings.
A lot of presenters think these terms make them appear "in the loop" and well-read. But while the temptation is great to use these words and phrases as shortcuts, they have become the subject of water cooler and e-mail jokes ("Buzzword Bingo" was the polite name for one of them) and even websites on the game and the language itself.
This list is not comprehensive, but avoidance of these terms will help in designing a presentation that is fresh and interesting instead of tired and humdrum. (Of course, if you're making a presentation to a bunch of corporate wonks who revel in these terms, use this list as a resource and pepper your presentation with these terms to make them think you really know your stuff when you're not really telling them anything new!) A few inclusions are new terms that are just plain annoying. If you have any favorites that are not listed, click here to e-mail them in. If you want to find better alternatives to these overused buzzwords, contact me to discuss our working together on your next presentation. You may also enjoy the British website for the Plain English Campaign.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
absolutely (when used instead of "yes")
accountability
action items
actualize
address the issue
all-hands meeting
alpha office
alternative
analysis paralysis
aperture moments (as a synonym for media outlets)
architect
aspiration statement
at the end of the day, or at day's end
back-end
backward-compatible
ballpark
been-there-done-that
benchmark(ing)
best of breed
best practice
between a rock and a hard place
big picture
bio-break
blamestorming
bleeding edge
blue-sky thinking
bottom line
brainstorm(ing)
bucketize
business case
business silo
buy-in
cash neutral
challenge (when used as a euphemism for "problem")
champion (used as a verb)
change agent (or catalyst)
chart it out
client focus(ed)
closure
cluster team(s)
coach(ing)
communicate
communications channels (as a synonym for media outlets)
conceptualize
contribution, contributor
core competencies
credibility
cross-platform
customer-focused
deliverables
disintermediate
diversity
dog and pony show
downsize
drill down
downward trend
drop back and punt
dysfunctional
enable(r)
emotional leakage
empower(ment)
enterprise-wide
envisioneer
e-tize
excellence
experiencing slippage
exponential(-ly)
facilitate
fact of the matter
fast track
flattening
flexible
flowchart (used as a verb)
framework
front-end
functionalities
future-proof
game plan
gap analysis
glass is half full
globalize
go the extra mile
goal-oriented
goal-setting
going forward
grow the business
grow revenues
heads up
health break
heavy lifting
herding cats
ideation
impact (used as a verb)
implement
in the loop
in-market for (instead of "in the market for")
info (super)highway
infomediaries
innovate
intellectual capital
involuntary retirement
issue
key (adjective) to describe anything
key player
knowledge base
knowledge management
leadership
leading-edge
lean & mean
leverage
literally (when incorrectly used in place of figuratively)
living document
long-term
low-hanging fruit
low-risk high-yield
matrix (used as a verb)
mentor(ing)
methodology
mindset
mindshare
mission-critical
mission statement
monetize
morale
moving parts
multitask(ing)
nailing Jell-O® to a tree
negative growth
network(ing)
nimble
not rocket science
on a (whatever time frame) basis
on the same page
operationalize
opportunity (when used as a euphemism for "problem")
optimization
out of the loop
out-of-the-box
outside the box
ownership
oxymoron(ic)
paradigm (often followed by "shift")
Pareto-ize
partner (used as a verb)
peel the onion
performance-based
play hardball
position (used as a verb)
power shift
principle-centered
prioritize
priority (used as an adjective)
proactive
process review
productize
proprietary
push the envelope
quality
quality vector
ramp up
react, used as a noun: "What are they doing for a react?"
real estate
reality check
recontextualize
re-engineer(ing)
regroup
repurpose
resource constrained
result(s)-driven
rightsize
revisit
risk effect
risk management
robust
ROI
rounding error
rubber stamp
scalable
scenario
schedule compressed
sea change
service organization
singing from the same hymnal
skill set
smartsize
solutioning
stand-alone
strategic fit
strategic gap
streamline
stretch the envelope
synergy, synergize
tactical
take that off-line
talking points
task force
team (dynamics, player, building)
tee up
That said,...
think outside the box
360-degree survey
tiger team
timely (especially "on a timely basis")
tip of the iceberg
top of the house
total quality (often followed by "driven" or "management")
touch base
touch points (as a synonym for media outlets)
train wreck
transition (when used as a verb)
turn-key
24/7 (or 24/7/365)
ubiquitous
user-centric
utilize
validate
value-added
vertical integration
vision statement
whiteboard (when used as a verb)
win-win
world class
© 2005, Thompson Writing & Editing, Inc.