This is an All Ears English podcast episode 2087.
Should you minimize your corporate speak?
Bringing corporate jargon down to earth.
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Good morning, Lindsay.
How are you doing?
Oh, I'm feeling good today, Aubrey.
What topic are we pivoting to today after we have been prepping today?
What are we getting into?
I'm excited.
This is going to be so interesting.
We're talking about corporate speak.
Yeah.
What does that mean, Lindsay, corporate speak?
Oh, corporate speak is a special set of vocabulary terms right that we tend to see in the corporate world, but specifically today in the tech world.
Kind of in the corporate tech world is what I would say.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's interesting how this is like that specific jargon for an industry right, where each industry definitely has different terms that are very specific to that that field.
And somebody else might not understand if they're not in that field, but you sort of forget that.
So you might find yourself using this corporate speak to a friend.
And this has happened to be where my husband will use corporate jargon.
Corporate speak about the HR field or sales.
And I'll have to ask, oh, what does that mean?
I'm unfamiliar with that word.
I mean, and every industry has its own.
It's like an insider, outsider thing.
This is how this is culture actually.
This is how culture build.
A definition of culture, words that are used traditions, habits this is what tells us we're kind of an insider.
It's how we show that we're an insider.
But today's episode is kind of poking fun at this, especially patterns we've seen in the tech world, the modern tech world, avery.
I'm so excited because all of this can be overused right, we have.
Sometimes it will almost feel like someone's using this corporate speak to impress or to maybe even if someone is there that won't understand, maybe to exclude or to create that sort of inside circle like you were saying.
So we do want to sort of think twice about should we use this very specific technical jargon or should we use the more common terms?
Yeah, and I think it's always also good to know the other way.
What are the common terms?
What are the original phrases before?
The tech world got a hold of this and changed it and created new phrases that you could come back to.
Like you could interject go from normal phrase to the corporate speak, back to the normal one.
So you're not so inundated in this kind of way of speaking that doesn't feel totally down to earth all the time.
Because the reason what this episode came from is I had a chance to listen in on my partner's call in the car on our drive and I was able to listen to some corporate speak.
And I had a front row seat to a meeting and words that are dropped live.
So this comes out of a true company meeting.
And this is like the tech industry, right?
Yeah, tech.
Very techie.
Yes.
Modern, technical, dealing with code, dealing with, yeah, all of the modern technical, all of, yeah.
So we're dealing with the tech industry here.
Yes.
And just up front, it's not like any of this language, this corporate jargon is wrong to use.
It's all great in the right time, right?
In the right place, context and situation.
But any vocabulary repetition can get sort of obnoxious if we're saying the same word over and over, especially if it's something very specific like this.
So it's more like you said about using it sometimes and then also having parallel expressions synonyms alternate, so that we're not repeating that specific language over and over.
Oh my god, it's so good.
And, by the way guys, we have a business English podcast that goes much more into all of these phrases and just the business world in general.
We thought about putting this episode on that one Aubrey, but it ended up over here on All Ears English.
Yeah, we were thinking all of you would be interested because you might hear this jargon, this corporate speak and be unfamiliar with it, like I was with some of it.
And I think it's fascinating to learn about and also to be aware that you might hear it, know what it means and then maybe use it yourself.
Yes, so good, so good.
So guys, go over and check out Business English Podcast, right?
Check it out.
Hit the follow button and then come back.
Make sure you are following all Ears English Podcast.
Aubrey, let's not leave our listeners in the dark any longer.
Let's go into the first one that I heard, and you can hear these in any meeting.
It's not just about this meeting and these people.
It's about many people that work in tech right now.
Absolutely, yes.
So the first one is a phrasal verb, capture in, right?
Which is usually about capturing into software, right?
It means just to write something down or type it into, include it in some kind of software.
And this is a little less common.
I don't hear this very often in my field.
Because in the normal world, like in the non-tech world, the expression capture means what, Aubrey?
Like what's the core of that definition of that word?
To like grab or trap.
Yeah, it doesn't mean to write something down usually.
Right.
So in the tech world you'll hear people say things like if you think of an idea, be sure to capture it in Trello, Miro or Figma right.
These are tools that the tech world people in the tech world use probably our listeners use, especially if you work in app development and things like that.
Exactly.
Right.
Lots of design tools.
So it's like oh, if you've thought of this great design tool, capture that in this software, so we don't lose the idea.
So you kind of it makes sense that it's like capture this idea, write it down there.
But it's interesting like another, another way.
I feel like I have heard this where you'd say like can you capture that in our Slack discussion?
Oh, sure.
Where this is just internal conversation. communication.
And if an idea is floated in a meeting, we don't want to forget it.
Maybe no one's taking meeting notes.
So that could be captured in something like Slack so that we don't forget it later.
Right.
And so what would be the more down to earth thing you could say every other time?
So you're not always saying capture, capture, capture.
It would be weird to say that over and over and over.
Right.
So there are lots of other ways you can say that.
Right. can you take that down?
I've heard a lot or just write it down.
I like take that down, right?
It's very native and natural.
Or can you make sure that gets down in Trello?
I could say that too.
Make sure that gets down in Trello.
That sounds strange, but I could say it.
Yeah.
Very interesting.
Yeah, because when we're talking about inputting something into a software application, it doesn't always work to just say write that down.
What we're really talking about is capturing an idea.
But yeah, if we say like, take that down, get it into Trello right now so that we don't forget, even just using these regular verbs, we still get the meaning across.
Totally.
And in terms of I mean we also I'm sure that we'll be using this expression as a company this fall right.
As we are going to try to capture systems, capture SOPs, put the things we do every day into more recorded systems.
Step-by-step instructions, right.
So to capture systems just means you're record keeping here, right?
Exactly.
Right.
We're just.
Normally we would say like Ooh, make a note.
Be sure to jot that down, get that recorded.
And another option is to say, capture it in.
Yeah.
It's hard.
It's interesting, right?
Because jot down only really applies to when you're writing something.
Like write a note.
So now we're recording most things by typing it into a laptop and putting into one of these programs.
So that's where I think capture probably came into play is when we stopped writing, physically writing things down.
You know, there was no, that makes sense.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Really interesting.
And it's often more about the idea rather than the words.
So we sort of needed a new term.
Oh, totally.
I love it.
So guys, that is the term.
If you already use it, then know what are other ways you could say it.
If you don't use it, maybe start using it if you hear your co.
You know today's episode is interesting because we're poking fun at the corporate tech world, but we're also saying sometimes you have to talk the talk, Aubrey.
Yeah, absolutely right.
So now you'll understand it when you hear it and you'll be able to talk the talk like you.
Totally yeah, what's the next one?
I can't wait, yeah.
So the next one is about scaling right the expression so that we can scale.
That just means to grow or expand without increasing resources.
Yeah,
And the important key there is like any company can grow, but not any company can scale, because the key part is without increasing resources.
So essentially, a company's cost would stay the same and their revenue would grow.
Right.
So that's kind of the key about scaling.
And so I heard this in the meeting when more like the leader was talking about as we continue to grow and scale.
You'll hear that a lot as a chunk.
Right.
Yes, exactly.
So an example would be like we need to automate this process so that we can scale.
You'll hear this a lot on shows like Shark Tank, where we're talking.
We're seeing a business that you can get plateaued if you don't figure out a way to automate a lot of things so that you can scale without hiring more employees and putting more, you know, liquid into the company.
Yeah, that's always kind of a red flag for the sharks.
I think you watch Shark Tank sometimes.
I do.
I love Shark Tank.
Yes.
Maybe we'll do an episode about Shark Tank on Business English.
But that's always a red flag for them when they see they want to know how scalable is this company truly, because they don't want to invest in a company that's just going to have to hire a lot of employees and never truly gain that scale.
Right.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Right.
Exactly.
Another example.
You might ask what do we need to do in order to scale our business, right?
So this, when you're meeting and just thinking about you know there's there's two sort of ways to think about it.
One is sort of small, where you're just keeping, you know um, hiring people and figuring out that way.
And then, when you really start thinking bigger, it's like how do we scale, how do we really make this bigger?
Yeah, and it's hard when we, when we think about another way to say this, obviously grow, but it doesn't capture everything, as i said before, capture it doesn't.
It doesn't say the whole story.
So this is actually kind of a harder one to find other ways to say it.
Now that i think about it, what do you think?
Yeah, and it's less of one that needs to be replaced, because when we're talking about scaling a business, that's a very specific conversation right, we're not just talking about growing, we're not just talking about expanding, like this is such a specific meaning that you can't really replace it with anything else.
And then, when you are talking about hiring more people or growing in other ways, you wouldn't use the word scale right, i love it.
So good, so good.
So guys, watch out for that one know it, you know it is used, being used here as a verb, but you can also be a noun to achieve scale okay, so know all the different ways to use this and how it comes into a sentence.
So good yes, what else, aubry?
All right, let's go to our next one, which is pivot to Now.
You may have heard us, especially in the Business English podcast, talk about companies pivoting when you have to sort of change your direction in order to maybe attract more of the market or, you know, stay successful.
But there's another way that we use this phrasal word, right, Lindsay?
Yeah.
In this particular meeting.
It was interesting because I heard it and I hadn't heard it quite as much used in this new way, which is it's a transition.
Transitioning the topic to a new speaker.
So let's say we're in a group of five.
And I'm speaking, I'm sharing my contribution.
Here's what I'm working on today.
It's a daily standup, morning standup.
This is what I, and now I'm gonna pivot over to Miranda, who will present the new expansion strategy or present her project on the iOS code, due on Friday, something like that, right.
Yeah, or we might say, let's pivot to the next agenda item.
So yeah, this is a very specific use where we're talking about transitioning the topic moving to another person.
And this is definitely one where it's If you said this, every time let's pivot to, And now let's pivot to Mike.
And now let's pivot to Brandon.
Oh, no, please don't do it.
That would get really annoying.
And there are so many other ways to say that.
Today's episode is how not to be annoying when it comes to corporate speak.
How not to be annoying.
Oh, my gosh.
Yes.
I love saying as an alternative, now I'd like to transition to Miranda.
I like that.
Easy.
That's perfect, right?
Or move to, right?
Oh, my gosh.
I also like Let's turn over the floor to, or let's hand the floor to, someone.
It just means like it's their turn to speak.
They're now, i given the yeah, now that i think about it aubrey, this would be a great episode for business english.
Do an entire episode just on how to introduce a transition to the next person to speak in a meeting.
There's so many like because there are so many right.
Yes exactly, and you want to switch it up, especially if you need to introduce several people in a meeting.
That's where the repetition any vocabulary repetition can get really stale and just start to feel cliche.
And you want to avoid that if you can.
Yeah, it starts to feel cliche.
I really don't.
That's what today's about.
So, all right.
In just a minute, we're going to go ahead and do a role play to see how this comes to life.
Awesome.
All right, Aubrey, let's do that role play that we were just talking about.
So we're in a business meeting, probably in Silicon Valley.
That's what I'm going to say.
Yes, right.
A tech business meeting.
Definitely.
You want to start us out?
Yeah.
I feel like we've over-indexed in HR updates.
Let's pivot to product launch.
Perfect.
We've been focused on how we can leverage this product launch to help us scale.
Good.
Let's capture the plan for the logo and Figma so we can get ideas from everyone.
Ooh, I like how you added leverage here, because that also could have been another great one, don't you think?
Yeah, that's true.
Good point.
I didn't even think about that.
I just used it naturally.
I didn't think about it, but that is a good bonus.
And also a word that is great, but you don't want to use it over and over.
It's on the same vibe.
It's like, okay, you know the word, use the word.
Yes, you're in Silicon Valley, but know that there are other ways to say it.
Exactly, right?
You can also just say use, right?
Grow.
You're going to grow this product.
You're going to focus on.
Yes.
Utilize. work off of.
There's so many words we can use.
OK.
Yes, exactly.
So leverage is fun and high level impressive, but lots of other ways to say that.
So switch it up.
And we did have a bonus here.
This is a fun one.
Right.
I feel I said I feel like we've over indexed in HR updates.
Now we're going to explore over index in another episode, guys.
So hit follow here on Allers English and Business English and wait for that episode.
We will actually come back to that.
But basically, what did I say here?
So you said, I feel like we've over-indexed in HR updates.
And Lindsay did also hear this one in that meeting.
But it could be a whole episode on its own, right?
So we are going to expand on that idea further. that says we're going to not let you know.
It might be business English, might be here.
So be sure to follow both.
Follow both, yes.
To get a deep dive into that and lots of other ways to say that as well.
I love it.
I can't wait for that episode.
Really good.
And then I said, let's pivot to product launch, right?
So here I'm not pivoting to another person to speak.
I'm just pivoting the topic, which also works really well.
Right, Aubrey?
Exactly, right?
Let's pivot to product launch.
And you can also say all right, let's transition to product launch, meaning transition to talking about that yes, anything else you said, or i said at the end well, i first said um scale right, we've been focused on how we can leverage this product launch to help us scale.
So, using that word there as a verb, meaning to grow without having to increase the resources we're putting in, yes.
And then i said good, let's capture the plan for the logo in figma so we can get ideas from everyone.
Good, i love it.
So this is a great example guys, of kind of yeah, a lot of what this meeting felt like and sounded like.
And I think our message today is pretty nuanced, right, Aubrey?
What is our message?
Yeah that, of course it's okay to use corporate speak, to use these terms that are very specific to your field.
You will hear them, but we have heard them be overused.
And that sort of breaks the connection, because anytime it sort of starts to grate on your nerves if you hear something, certain terms, repeated over and over, especially when they're very specific, like that.
If there are lots of other ways to say that, switch it up.
Say it lots of different ways.
Yeah, it's so true.
So there's a time for using like in-group speak, right?
This is in-group speak in a way, right?
It's culture, as I said, for connection.
And then there's a time to drop it and just be yourself, right?
And so you know the difference and then it moved between both.
I love that idea.
That is truly 99% fluent communication.
That is so good.
And that's connection, as you said, Aubrey.
Yes, absolutely.
And corporate speak is always evolving.
There are new words that are becoming more popular that are being used all the time.
So glad you guys are following here because we're going to keep you updated on this very modern jargon that is used in different fields.
Yeah, super interesting.
All right, Aubrey, thanks for hanging out today.
Great episode.
Awesome.
Thanks.
See you next time.
Have a good one.
Bye.
You too.
Bye.
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