Writing Exercise: Give Your Buzzwords a Buzzcut
Everyone says they hate buzzwords and jargon. I’m here to argue, jargon isn’t your problem. But, the buzzwords in your writing need to buzz off.
Despite the general “despise” they keep showing up in our emails, decks, and sales conversations.
This problem falls into the same category as the classic quote, “if I had more time I would have written you a shorter letter”. In this blog, you’ll gain the tools to solve the problem, so you have the mental models needed to practice.
Jargon Isn’t the Enemy
Before we talk about buzzwords, it’s important to separate them from jargon.
Jargon is insider language. Every profession has it.
Doctors use it. Lawyers use it. Engineers use it. Even bartenders use it.
Jargon exists because it’s efficient. It compresses complex ideas into shorthand that everyone inside the group understands.
The problem isn’t jargon.
Jargon is only a problem when the language you’re using doesn’t match the person you’re talking to.
If you’re selling to sales leaders and using sales language, that’s usually fine. If you’re selling to someone outside that group, the same words suddenly become confusing.
If we’re prioritizing problems, that’s a segmentation problem before it’s a messaging problem.
Buzzwords Are Different
Buzzwords are created when jargons’ definition becomes stretched. Marketers, hoping to tap into a mental shortcut, use loose definitions of jargon to cover their “thing”.
What ends up happening is the jargon becomes so overused and misapplied that it becomes meaningless.
A buzzword is not insider shorthand. It’s a fuzzy term that has multiple meanings.
Words like these all started with a very specific definition:
- Visibility
- Enablement
- Scalable
- Flexible
- Platform
Even “personalization” started with a clear definition, but now it’s a term muddied by conversations on relevance vs. scalability.
Buzzwords are dangerous because they feel specific to the writer, but they stay vague to the reader. Two people can read the same buzzword and walk away with completely different interpretations.
That’s where communication breaks down.
You think you’re being clear. Your reader thinks you’re talking about something else entirely.
The result is confusion, friction, or indifference.
Example: Why “Visibility” Doesn’t Mean Anything
“Visibility” is a great example of a word that sounds strong but collapses under scrutiny.
If we tell a prospect Lavender gives them “inbox visibility,” what does that actually mean?
Visibility into what?
Email activity?
Performance trends?
Team behavior?
Outcomes?
The problem isn’t the word sounding bad. The problem is that it doesn’t communicate a single, concrete idea.
So, what’s better than “inbox visibility”?
The Fix: Make Buzzwords Concrete with a “Jobs to be Done” approach
The way out of buzzwords is not to ban them. It’s to force them to become specific.
The simplest place to start is by asking: “What do I actually mean by this word?”
Take “visibility.” At its root, visibility just means: “To see”
So the real question becomes: “What are you helping someone see?
This sets the stage for the buzzword to start to melt away.
Then you want to look at the job that will be accomplished in practice. With Lavender that means “seeing exactly why emails are getting replies”.
That’s a clearer story about content analytics that highlights the unique value that comes from Lavender’s email intelligence layer.
More Examples of Turning Buzzwords Back Into Real Language
Here’s how this looks in practice.
Buzzy: “Visibility into your email performance”
Clear: “Seeing which emails get replies and why”
Buzzy: “A scalable solution”
Clear: “Works as your team grows”
Buzzy: “A flexible platform”
Clear: “Fits into different workflows”
Buzzy: “Workflow automation”
Clear: “How reps do their work”
The moment you replace the buzzword with the actual job to be done, your writing gets clearer.
A Shortcut: Shorter Words Almost Always Win
There’s another simple rule that helps clean up buzzwords fast.
Shorter words are usually better.
Not because they’re dumbed down. Across the billions of emails analyzed at Lavender, we’ve consistently seen that the commonality of a word is less important that the overall length of the word.
Examples:
- Execute → do
- Leverage → use
- Eliminate → get rid of
These substitutions don’t weaken your message. They strengthen it.
Clear writing isn’t about sounding smart. It’s about being understood quickly.
The Pattern Behind Buzzwords
Buzzwords are often a symptom, not the problem.
They show up when:
- We don’t fully understand what we’re trying to say
- We’re hiding behind someone else's words instead of clarifying it
- We’re trying to sound impressive instead of helpful
This is why buzzwords creep into first drafts. They act as placeholders for thinking.
The Writing Exercise: Giving Buzzwords a Buzzcut
Here’s the exercise.
- Take an email you’ve written recently
- Highlight every buzzword
- For each one, ask:
- What do I actually mean?
- What would this look like in the real world?
- Rewrite the sentence using concrete language tied to the job to be done
If you can’t explain what the word means, that’s your signal.
Cut it.
The goal isn’t to sound simpler.
The goal is to be clearer.
And clarity is what gets replies.
