Rid your business writing of these 10 bits of jargon

If there’s one trait that business writing ought to have, it’s clarity—which is the trait most business jargon phrases lack. They’re neither precise nor informative; they’re not even professional. They’re just vague, even though some might sound powerful or trendy.

We communications pros, however, should know better than to use the following phrases in business writing:

Paradigm shift

Paradigms are widely accepted models of how certain things are. Flat Earth was a paradigm. When paradigms shift, the consequences are substantial-on the scale of humans accepting that the heavens do not revolve around us. The introduction of quantum mechanics was a paradigm shift.

Unless a business produces changes on par with those cosmic events, we should avoid using the phrase “paradigm shift,” and use “major change” or “significant change” instead.

Moving forward

“Moving forward” is used to end one part of a conversation and go to the next. It might also be used to say that the business must begin the next phase of a development plan. In that case, it’s better simply to say what “moving forward” actually entails.