When I start hearing buzzwords, I quit listening. After 20-something years in the CPA profession, I have heard all of the jargon and after a while it all seems to get jumbled up. How many times have you heard someone say something along the lines of, “Let’s set the bar high by going the extra mile to reach out and enlarge our bandwidth with new potential clients.”

I hear, “nothing but empty words that won’t keep my….oh, look – squirrels. What was I saying? Oh yea, keep my focus.”

There is no focused direction. It is a complex way of saying something vague. You might think that you sound smarter, but it can be difficult for your team to understand what you’re trying to convey. No one has any direction on next steps to take, priorities, or goals. When Warren Buffet sits down to write his letter to his shareholders each year, he writes as if he was speaking to his sisters in language they would understand. When leaders begin to speak in simpler and more precise terms, we can see the path to growth.

So let’s try this again:

“Let’s start a conversation on ways to reach more clients. I want to hear from everyone on areas we can expand into and how we can improve the relationships with our current clients who will generate more referrals.”

This version cut out the buzzwords and replaced them with effective communication. In doing so, you begin relating more to what your employees are looking for from a good leader. Speaking simpler doesn’t just make the direction you want to go in clearer, it also inspires creativity and participation from the very people you depend on day in and day out. They begin to get excited because there is real thinking and less room for personal interpretation as to what “going the extra mile” is. When the goal line is made clear, team work towards that goal takes on a renewed energy

Are you ready to launch the course of the general conversation in the workplace towards more positive results? Download a free chapter from my new book, Improv Is No Joke to catch the vision of speaking in simpler terms or I can come speak at your next event.