Overused Buzzwords

Buzzwords that make people look stupid, so says the venerable Dr. Travis Bradberry for LinkedIn. At first euphemisms surfaced in the workplace to help people deal with touchy subjects. Then they morphed into corporate buzzwords that took over our vocabulary. Everyday conversations now sound like we all work for NASA:

 

“Listen Ray, I don’t have the bandwidth for it with everything else on my plate, but ping me anyway because at the end of the day it’s on my radar and I don’t want to be thrown under the bus because I didn’t circle back around on this no-brainer.”

 

These over-used phrases make you feel clever, but they also annoy the heck out of people. Don’t think you can use these phrases without consequence. Pay close attention to how others react to your using them, and you will see these phrases don’t cast you in a favorable light. One of the biggest needs to most people is more social awareness. Most of us are so focused on what we’re saying (and what we want to say next) that we lose sight of how our words affect others.

 

See if you can catch yourself before you use these phrases again:

 

All hands on deck.

Apples to apples.

At the end of the day.

Back to the drawing board.

Bang for your buck.

Circle back around.

Elephant in the room.

Get my manager’s blessing.

Get the ball rolling.

Hit the ground running.

I don’t have the bandwidth (?)

It’s on my radar.

Let’s touch base.

Low hanging fruit.

On my plate.

Out to lunch.

Move the goal post (?)

No brainer.

Par for the course.

Ping me. (?)

Reinvent the wheel.

Synergy.

Take this off-line.

Think outside the box.

Thrown under the bus.

Win-win.

 

ME: This is bad at my office. I am certainly guilty, and some are worse offenders than others. Five overused phrases of my own:

 

As Christians we…

Awesome.

Body of work.

Head’s Up Play.

I’ll pray about that.

So blessed.

So grateful for…

 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/buzzwords-make-smart-people-look-stupid-dr-travis-bradberry