Confusion
Just remember (have it tattooed on your wrist, if it helps): an outsider simply cannot
accurately visualise what your jargon means. The references are missing. The daily
exposure is missing. The context is absent. For insiders, jargon can conjure a rich world.
For outsiders (i.e. donors), jargon just conjures confusion and blank mental screens. It is
the vivid mental picture of human suffering that stirs donor empathy. You can’t create that
kind of picture with mere jargon.

Takeaway: jargon can be a serious obstacle to communicating effectively with your base
of supporters. Outside the office, jargon is a dead language. We carelessly fling technical
shorthand (‘accessible’, ‘services’) at our donors and prospects. But generalists do not
interpret these terms correctly and profoundly, the way specialists do. Terms like ‘at risk’
fail to move people unless we bring those terms to life vividly through anecdotes, photos
and other real-life evidence.

With acknowledgements to Ahern E-News 6.6
Visit: www.aherncomm.com