TIUOA - The Indiscriminate Use of Acronyms

Individuals like to use acronyms. I'd like to assume it really is for the reason that we believe so quick we have to have to condense our speech to compensate, so we use acronyms to speed issues up; but I could be wrong. definition are particularly rampant in Chat Rooms. If you've been to 1, you understand how really hard it truly is to understand what individuals are saying when you do not know acronyms like LOL or BRB.

Fortunately--or unfortunately, because the case maybe--the technical professions are full of them. Maybe it really is simply because they're less difficult to make use of or they're just plain faster to say. Or, perhaps it really is for the reason that they enable the particular person applying them establish his or her mental superiority. What ever the cause, our jobs are replete with them and they serve their purposes.

But technical acronyms possess a downside too. Those on the enterprise side of your ledger never often know what they mean. One particular company I worked for, had an outstanding collection of acronyms, which workers applied freely, also freely. They became so ingrained in the organization's culture; they in some cases interfered with customer communications, costing the organization organization.

If you're in sales, you'll want to be wary of acronyms. When they've their upsides, they are able to expense you, if you're not careful when and how you use them.

Let's look at a simple instance. A sales engineer delivering a presentation explains how a certain protocol functions and how the company's equipment functions with regard to it. She or he understands these acronyms and leverages them within the presentation to speed communication. That is wonderful, in the event the sales engineer is speaking towards the appropriate people. If not, he or she might be cutting their personal throat.

In case your audience is composed of business decision-makers, odds are they may not know what the acronyms represent. Additional importantly, they might not care. Their primary concern throughout the presentation is getting out irrespective of whether your item or service solves their issue, regardless of whether they knew they had 1 or not.

So what occurs whenever you use a strange acronym? They're either going to ask you what it indicates or they are going to try to decipher it. If they ask for its meaning, you may sound intelligent telling them, but you've interrupted the presentation. If they determine to decipher it, they're going to quit paying attention when their processors decipher "the code." Either way, it is not excellent.

Here's one more instance. Normally, buyers refrain from asking about an acronym since they are intimidated or embarrassed. They are not acquainted with it but considering that they didn't ask about it and they are sitting inside the presentation, you automatically assume they know what it implies. Communication is blocked. That's also not excellent either.

Then there's the question of ambiguity. In the event you use an acronym and do not clarify its which means, your audience may not be clear about what you are 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 items at the same time. A number of my favorites are

o Tax Lien Association

o Temporary Living Allowance

o Territorial Regional Authority

o Texas Lawyers Association

o Tadpole Liberation Army (my personal favorite)

and numerous additional...

OK, I'm exaggerating. Chances are these terms will not come up inside a technical sales presentation. But I feel you get the concept. So how do you manage acronyms if you are creating a technical sales presentation?

Here are my suggestions...

If you're delivering a handout, produce a section for acronyms.
If you are performing a PowerPoint presentation, clarify the acronym after they come up.
Try gaging your audience's technical know-how. (Should you think your audience has a high degree of technical expertise, steer clear of explaining the acronym. You don't desire to be noticed as a babysitter explaining TCP/IP to a additional sophisticated audience.)
If it is a company-related acronym or it represents some obscure industry regular, really feel no cost to clarify its meaning when it comes up.
Acronyms are a truth of life. They're right here to stay and we're going to become working with them till we get started applying telepathy to communicate. In the imply time, be careful with acronyms when giving a technical sales presentation. They're able to expense you.