Stripping jargon from your media interview or panel prep isn't dumbing down. It's wising up because you are removing ambiguity of understanding for the non-experts in the audience. Or, to put it another way, do you want to leave it up to someone else to decide for themselves what you mean? Or just ignore you altogether because they don't understand? If you are talking to the media to reach the five people who know as much about the topic to you, you picked the wrong conduit.
Ann Wright
1mo
We talk about this all the time in our training courses, whether presentation skills, media training or panel prep. A key consideration is knowing your audience and use language which they understand and will respond to. As Laura said, avoid using complex technical terms which your audience won't understand, however, if they are in the same sector/field/industry as you, you can be assume a greater level of knowledge. Even so, you want to avoid any risk of misinterpretation - for example, an engineer talking about "connectivity", could be referring to pipes, transport or broadband?
Chris Mihill
1mo
When I do media training I always say do not give journalists a whole cow and let them chose the bit they want to eat. Give them one fillet steak. They can use it or not - but your message will be clear.
Independent Consultant
1moThis is dangerously close to the truth. Take it down immediately! 🤣