Don’t Assume or use Acronyms as they may offend

It is an old idea but oh so accurate still and I still use the Benny Hill sketch (never assume because you will make an ASS of U and Me), when out networking. But on this occasion recently I assumed something, and I was wrong. It was around LinkedIn and the mobile App and its ability to scan in another LinkedIn users code to connect to them. When I was asking the person to connect, I assumed he did not use this simple way and they then went and did exactly that!!

So, you should never assume that people know or don’t know, you need to find out. Assuming someone knows something can lead to an ineffective exchange, where you have actually lost the person on an assumption and they did not let you know that you had.

The person may feel foolish that they don’t know, or at the other end, they may feel insulted by your phrasing. In some cases they could assume a wrong meaning completing confusing them, so, It is better to include it as even if the person knows then it will be affirmational for them.

As I attend a lot of events from networking to conferences over the last decade, I have witnessed over a thousand presentations ranging from the dire to the sublime, but one thing continually annoys me and that is an acronym!!

Now I am not known for being timid so I will very often ask the deliverer to explain what it means, for mine and the audience’s clarity. This then forces the presenter to let us all know and also consider their use of acronyms. If people don’t know what it means apart from being a bit embarrassed or annoyed you may have lost heir attention, and if it’s one person then it is likely to be others.

Some people use them to show off, but I suggest a better bet would be to use them but explain them straight away.

Assumption can trip you up and lose your audience be it a 1-2-1 or thousands so STOP using them and if you are going to assume then assume, we as an audience don’t know. If we do it is affirmational, and we feel good that we know

TTFN…………………………………………Ta Ta For Now (one for the older readers ?