TIUOA - The Indiscriminate Use of Acronyms

Men and women like to use acronyms. I'd prefer to feel it's for the reason that we consider so speedy we need to condense our speech to compensate, so we use acronyms to speed points up; but I may be wrong. meaning are in particular rampant in Chat Rooms. If you have been to one, you know how challenging it truly is to know what people are saying for those who don't know acronyms like LOL or BRB.

Fortunately--or sadly, as the case maybe--the technical professions are full of them. Possibly it is for the reason that they are simpler to work with or they are just plain more quickly to say. Or, possibly it really is for the reason that they assist the particular person making use of them establish their mental superiority. Whatever the reason, our jobs are replete with them and they serve their purposes.

But technical acronyms have a downside as well. Those around the business side from the ledger do not normally know what they mean. A single corporation I worked for, had an unbelievable collection of acronyms, which employees applied freely, too freely. They became so ingrained inside the organization's culture; they at times interfered with buyer communications, costing the organization company.

If you are in sales, you have to be wary of acronyms. Whilst they've their upsides, they can cost you, if you're not careful when and how you use them.

Let's appear at a very simple example. A sales engineer delivering a presentation explains how a certain protocol performs and how the company's gear functions with regard to it. She or he understands these acronyms and leverages them in the presentation to speed communication. That's good, in the event the sales engineer is talking towards the right people today. If not, he or she may be cutting their own throat.

If your audience is composed of small business decision-makers, chances are they may not know what the acronyms represent. Far more importantly, they may not care. Their main concern during the presentation is getting out irrespective of whether your product or service solves their dilemma, irrespective of whether they knew they had one or not.

So what happens after you use a strange acronym? They're either going to ask you what it implies or they are going to try to decipher it. If they ask for its which means, you could possibly sound smart telling them, but you have interrupted the presentation. If they choose to decipher it, they're going to stop paying consideration though their processors decipher "the code." Either way, it's not good.

Here's a different example. Generally, prospects refrain from asking about an acronym since they are intimidated or embarrassed. They are not acquainted with it but considering the fact that they did not ask about it and they're sitting in the presentation, you automatically assume they know what it means. Communication is blocked. That's also not great either.

Then there is the question of ambiguity. If you use an acronym and don't clarify its which means, your audience may not be clear about what you happen to be saying.

Take the acronym "TLA." It could stand for Three-Letter Acronym or it could stand for Two-Letter Acronym. It could also stand for other points also. A few of my favorites are

o Tax Lien Association

o Short-term Living Allowance

o Territorial Neighborhood Authority

o Texas Lawyers Association

o Tadpole Liberation Army (my individual favorite)

and numerous a lot more...

OK, I am exaggerating. Odds are these terms will not come up inside a technical sales presentation. But I believe you get the idea. So how do you manage acronyms if you're producing a technical sales presentation?

Listed below are my recommendations...

If you're providing a handout, make a section for acronyms.
If you're carrying out a PowerPoint presentation, explain the stand for once they come up.
Attempt gaging your audience's technical expertise. (Should you believe your audience has a higher amount of technical know-how, stay clear of explaining the acronym. You do not want to be observed as a babysitter explaining TCP/IP to a a lot more sophisticated audience.)
If it is a company-related acronym or it represents some obscure business normal, really feel cost-free to explain its meaning when it comes up.
Acronyms are a truth of life. They are right here to remain and we're going to become making use of them until we get started making use of telepathy to communicate. In the mean time, be cautious with acronyms when providing a technical sales presentation. They will price you.