image: hugh macleodEvery business discipline has its own language, and its own short-cut terms for concepts. These specialised words become jargon, however, when exposed to outside audiences.   Written communications around the establishment of new relationships, then should be particularly careful not to assume a reader's familiarity or understanding of specialised terms, but rather should say things in plain english. Whether jargon is a product of one's education or whether writers are trying to impress readers, the pitfalls of jargon are too great: if the audience does not get the message the communication fails, or even worse, if the audience thinks you are misusing terms you will quickly lose credibility. Keep the technical speak for technical papers and the simple english for easily digested communications. Better business writing can sometimes just be a matter of pausing, and taking the time to read and think about how you sound.