Curing jargon-itis

Translating technical information into information that’s easy to read and understand isn’t always simple.

The BRACED Knowledge Manager held a discussion forum addressing this challenge to debate how partners can get rid of jargon in their writing. 

Participants said they vary their use of jargon depending on their target audience. Technical terms may work well for technical staff, but “too much jargon will make it harder for local communities, or even generic audiences, to read you”, said Nathalie Koffi, communications officer at ENDA Energie.

What do we mean by jargon? Laurie Goering, head of the climate programme at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, gave an example of particularly bad jargon (a caption she received for a photo): “Women from the Baka people in Cameroon visualize their vision on the present and future of the environmental in which they live, during a participatory workshop.”

Acronyms are another common form of jargon, and can mean completely different things to others.

Gertrude, the Knowledge Manager engagement leader for Mercy Corps, suggested putting one’s self in the reader’s place: reading a jargon-laden piece before writing your own might dissuade you from using overly technical language.

Finally, innovative methods such as games or theatre can be a good way to get across language and concepts that are particularly hard. More on that last point at our next discussion forum in French, “le théâtre communautaire, comment ça marche?”.