TIUOA - The Indiscriminate Use of Acronyms

Persons really like to make use of acronyms. I'd like to consider it's due to the fact we think so rapidly we have to have to condense our speech to compensate, so we use acronyms to speed items up; but I may very well be wrong. abbreviation are specifically rampant in Chat Rooms. If you've been to 1, you realize how tough it can be to know what persons are saying in case you don't know acronyms like LOL or BRB.

Fortunately--or sadly, because the case maybe--the technical professions are full of them. Possibly it really is because they're less complicated to make use of or they are just plain more rapidly to say. Or, perhaps it is mainly because they support the particular person using them establish his or her mental superiority. Whatever the purpose, our jobs are replete with them and they serve their purposes.

But technical acronyms possess a downside too. These on the organization side of the ledger don't often know what they mean. One particular corporation I worked for, had an outstanding collection of acronyms, which personnel used freely, too freely. They became so ingrained within the organization's culture; they occasionally interfered with customer communications, costing the enterprise small business.

If you're in sales, you should be wary of acronyms. Though they have their upsides, they're able to expense you, if you are not cautious when and how you use them.

Let's appear at a basic instance. A sales engineer delivering a presentation explains how a particular protocol operates and how the company's equipment functions with regard to it. He or she understands these acronyms and leverages them inside the presentation to speed communication. That is great, when the sales engineer is speaking to the ideal individuals. If not, he or she can be cutting his or her personal throat.

If your audience is composed of organization decision-makers, chances are they may not know what the acronyms represent. Extra importantly, they might not care. Their primary concern throughout the presentation is discovering out no matter whether your solution or service solves their dilemma, no matter whether they knew they had 1 or not.

So what occurs if you use a strange acronym? They are either going to ask you what it indicates or they're going to endeavor to decipher it. If they ask for its which means, you could sound intelligent telling them, but you have interrupted the presentation. If they decide to decipher it, they are going to stop paying focus while their processors decipher "the code." Either way, it's not excellent.

Here's an additional example. Usually, clients refrain from asking about an acronym for the reason that they are intimidated or embarrassed. They're not acquainted with it but considering the fact that they didn't ask about it and they are sitting in the presentation, you automatically assume they know what it indicates. Communication is blocked. That is also not very good either.

Then there is the question of ambiguity. Should you use an acronym and do not clarify its meaning, your audience might not be clear about what you're 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 too. Some of my favorites are

o Tax Lien Association

o Temporary Living Allowance

o Territorial Nearby Authority

o Texas Lawyers Association

o Tadpole Liberation Army (my personal preferred)

and a lot of a lot more...

OK, I'm exaggerating. Chances are these terms will not come up in a technical sales presentation. But I think you get the idea. So how do you deal with acronyms if you are creating a technical sales presentation?

Listed here are my suggestions...

If you're providing a handout, generate a section for acronyms.
If you're undertaking a PowerPoint presentation, clarify the acronym when they come up.
Attempt gaging your audience's technical understanding. (In the event you consider your audience has a high amount of technical know-how, steer clear of explaining the acronym. You do not desire to be noticed as a babysitter explaining TCP/IP to a additional advanced audience.)
If it really is a company-related acronym or it represents some obscure industry regular, feel absolutely free to explain its which means when it comes up.
Acronyms are a reality of life. They're right here to stay and we're going to become applying them until we start out employing telepathy to communicate. In the mean time, be careful with acronyms when providing a technical sales presentation. They will expense you.