{"id":445,"date":"2012-03-02T14:23:15","date_gmt":"2012-03-02T14:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/?p=445"},"modified":"2012-03-02T17:03:04","modified_gmt":"2012-03-02T17:03:04","slug":"acronym-overkill-makes-technology-marketing-a-real-pita","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/acronym-overkill-makes-technology-marketing-a-real-pita\/","title":{"rendered":"Acronym overkill makes technology marketing a real PITA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dreamstime.com\/register?jump_to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dreamstime.com%2Froyalty-free-stock-photo-empty-chair-at-desk-in-cubicle-image17057205\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"myimage\" title=\"Empty Chair At Desk In Cubicle\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dreamstime.com\/empty-chair-at-desk-in-cubicle-thumb17057205.jpg\" alt=\"Empty Chair At Desk In Cubicle\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.siliconvalley.com\/ci_20073185\">Patrick May&#8217;s take on techie-speak yesterday<\/a> was yet another reminder of language getting in the way of clear speaking and thinking.\u00a0 The concept of &#8220;TLA&#8221; the initials for <strong>three-letter acronyms<\/strong>, is a long-standing techie tradition.\u00a0 TLAs are used in marketing techno-speak the way<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Howard_Cosell\"> Howard Cosell<\/a> used to throw around multisyllabic words and ornate phrases.<\/p>\n<p>But there was method to Cosell&#8217;s legendary <em>loquaciousness <\/em>(go ahead, look it up).\u00a0\u00a0 He was trying, and succeeding, to differentiate his brand of sportscasting from the drab uniformity of jock-speak and coach-isms.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s just the opposite in Silicon Valley, where so many techno-marketeers want their palaver to be consistent with what they hear in the echo chambers of their cubicles and conference rooms.\u00a0 Too often, what we end up with is incomprehensible, convoluted drivel that&#8217;s counterproductive to the key process of successful marketing, namely, <em>communication. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/write-angle.com\">We <\/a>have two antidotes to the brain-suffocation caused by terminal TLA.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. <\/strong>Speak and write your main thoughts in <em>plain English<\/em>, a language honed over the centuries to communicate with vivid expression.\u00a0 If you must use three-letter acronyms be certain that the concepts behind the words can be understood by a reasonably intelligent 12-year-old.\u00a0 Think we&#8217;re overstating it?\u00a0 Peter Lynch, peerless investor in the Warren Buffett league, used to say he never bought a stock whose business he couldn&#8217;t explain to his seventh-grade son &#8212; an engaging and intelligent lad, but not a child prodigy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.<\/strong> Spend less time in your cubicle and more time out in the marketplace talking to the people who buy and use your products.\u00a0 Get them to describe how your offerings are making their business lives simpler, more productive, more satisfying.\u00a0 How do they express themselves?<\/p>\n<p>In the words of <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.hbr.org\/cs\/2012\/02\/a_leap_year_lesson_on_correcti.html\">Hal Gregersen<\/a>, professor of leadership at <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/INSEAD\">INSEAD<\/a>, the solution is to leave the cocoon of an office: &#8220;Observe the people using your products and services. Pay attention.   Second, network with people who don&#8217;t look, think, act, or dress like  you&#8221;.\u00a0 The latter may not always be easy to do in the heterogeneous zone of the Valley.\u00a0 But where there&#8217;s a will <strong>there&#8217;s a way. <\/strong> Or,&#8221;T.A.W.&#8221; as some might put it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Patrick May&#8217;s take on techie-speak yesterday was yet another reminder of language getting in the way of clear speaking and thinking.\u00a0 The concept of &#8220;TLA&#8221; the initials for three-letter acronyms, is a long-standing techie tradition.\u00a0 TLAs are used in marketing techno-speak the way Howard Cosell used to throw around multisyllabic words and ornate phrases. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,36,37,9,30,10],"tags":[14,26,38,11],"class_list":["post-445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-content-marketing","category-content-strategy","category-marketing","category-online-content","category-rx-for-content","category-website-content","tag-branding-content","tag-content-creation","tag-content-strategy-2","tag-optimizing-content"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Acronym overkill makes technology marketing a real PITA - The Write Stuff<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.write-angle.com\/thewritestuff\/acronym-overkill-makes-technology-marketing-a-real-pita\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Acronym overkill makes technology marketing a real PITA - The Write Stuff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; Patrick May&#8217;s take on techie-speak yesterday was yet another reminder of language getting in the way of clear speaking and thinking.\u00a0 The concept of &#8220;TLA&#8221; the initials for three-letter acronyms, is a long-standing techie tradition.\u00a0 TLAs are used in marketing techno-speak the way Howard Cosell used to throw around multisyllabic words and ornate phrases. 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