In the midst of continued crises–War in Ukraine, Global Pandemic, Climate Crises and more—and my sometimes feelings that as an individual I have little power or capability to change the course of events (true in some cases, not in others) I now return to my previous perch: #CommunicationsContentConnections.

I really never left this soapbox, this LaurelComms blog where I take a pause to point out the good, the bad, and the often ugly Communications practices where—at its best—it can and should produce compelling Content and prompt crucial Connections.

Which brings me, and us, this month to buzzwords. I’m going to take you on a short buzzword binge, to debate whether buzzwords do/do not positively contribute to CommunicationsContentConnections.

What folly, you say?! Don’t be a buzzkill. Let’s banter just a bit about buzzwords, anyway.

What’s a Buzzword Anyway?

First to the Merriam-Webster definition: a buzzword is “an important-sounding usually technical word or phrase often of little meaning used chiefly to impress laymen,: and “a voguish word or phrase.” (Sadly, I am going to put that word “laymen” aside as it’s mostly off topic.)

Next, I am curious about buzzword’s birthplace and time, aren’t you? Wikipedia credits F.M Hallgren and H. Weiss article “Buzz words at the ‘B’ School” article way back in 1946, where in a Harvard University study students started to use words and phrases to quickly recall important item and to easily communicate on topics. Ultimately these early buzz words and phrases began to be commonly used in business speak and influence business culture. And the business world has been abuzz ever since!

So, where are we today? Forbes regularly touts top buzzwords for the year. For 2022, Forbes narrowed it down to one hyphenated term: well-being. In “The Well-being Schmooze: Biggest Buzzword of 2022 and Why Companies Are Out For A Big Surprise,” Sesil Pir writes of research and trends that showed “well-being” was everywhere and everything for business and business leaders this year. Not just a buzzword, Forbes called it a “new category of engagement…a new value driver for global employees.”

Buzz Off Buzzwords

LinkedIn also regularly gets on the buzzword bandwagon. In February of this year, Vivek Gambhir, CEO of boAT Lifestyle, published “Buzz Off! Some Buzzwords to Strike Off in 2022.” The list included bandwidth, pivot, new normal, think outside the box, let’s take it offline, give it 110%, and to be honest. Now, honestly, how many of these words/phrases did you and I use just last week? Let’s not go there but go where Gambhir did: he gave examples of alternative, cleaner, clearer words and phrases.

A Mary Pratt online CIO column, “15 Most Misused Buzzwords in IT,” first floated my buzzword boat earlier this month. The particularly interesting column featured CIOs, CTOs, and experts from MIT pointing out the pitfalls of buzzwords and phrases, where such words can and do clarify meaning, and everything in-between. The list included some already noted above (bandwidth, new normal); some you’d expect (digital transformation, agile, meta anything) and some I thought had a specific technological meaning and definition. That group of terms included artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and data warehouse.

Even after this exploration, as a business technology professional, an editor and writer, a person in pursuit of good, better, best CommunicationsContentConnections, I admit to two truths. I continue to try to cut through the clutter, to explain business and technology clearly and succinctly.

Yet, in good conscience, I also must acknowledge: I’ve undoubtedly contributed to the buzzword noise. Maybe I can still pivot to the “focus and precision” that my early editors demanded? Do I have the bandwidth? Not so easy-peasy, is it?

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