Remember “convenience-led coffee occasions”?

It was the incredible description a Costa leader used during a radio interview about the brand’s performance and latest drive-thru store opening.

It grabbed our attention for all the wrong reasons, and we covered it in one of our recent media training blogs.

It also got us thinking that we haven’t done a guide to the words and phrases media spokespeople should avoid in interviews.

So, here is our latest collection of words not to say in your next media interview.

Space

Space has featured heavily in the news recently thanks to Artemis II. But sadly, space no longer just refers to the solar system. Or the amount of room you have in your home.

It now seems that everything is a space. There is the automotive space. The healthcare space. There is research and development space. There is definitely a tech space. And there’s probably an aerospace space.

There is also, of course, the ubiquitous “in this space” phrase. You can’t avoid it.

But while space is everywhere, it shouldn’t be used in your media interview. It is unnecessary and makes people sound more like they are speaking in the boardroom than having an everyday conversation.

And the result is it creates an avoidable space between the spokesperson and their audience.

Roadmap

This one annoys me a lot. It has become a popular and infuriating way to discuss having a plan. That’s all it means.

There are no maps, road trips or directions involved. It seemed to rise to prominence during the pandemic, when there were regular reports of a “roadmap out of lockdown”.

While lockdowns seem to thankfully be a thing of the past, roadmaps remain. Avoid.

Verticals

I hear this word used with increasing irregularity and each time I feel I die a little inside.

I’ve no idea what it means.

And I’m pretty sure it is meaningless to most people. I mean, no one talks about verticals in day-to-day life, do they?

So, when it is used in a media interview, it causes the audience to switch off, zone out and lose interest. And what happens if verticals become horizontal? I don’t know, but I would suggest this recent bewildering quote from Keith Pelley, the vice president of the Maple Leafs ice hockey team, means it is not a good thing.

“We didn’t have alignment through all aspects of our business,” he said.

“If you look at each team, each team has certain verticals, and the verticals weren’t horizontally integrated as they needed to be.”

In the distant past, I covered ice hockey for a newspaper and can confirm that neither verticals or horizontals were ever mentioned. So, I’m sure the bizarre boardroom explanation landed well with the team’s perplexed fans.

It's time for verticals to puck off. 

Alignment

And this brings us seamlessly on to alignment, another jargon phrase Mr Pelley shoehorned among the verticals and horizontals.

The problem with alignment, aside from its overuse, is its vagueness.

I understand the importance of the wheels on my car being aligned, but achieving “stakeholder alignment” is much more confusing.

Clarity in media interviews is crucial. Not only does it ensure messages are understood, but it also builds trust and connections.

Let’s align on not using this word in any future media interviews.

Scalable

A lot of things are suddenly scalable.

Solutions (a word to avoid in its own right) are scalable. So, are operations, business models and projects.

It is a word you now hear everywhere. But it is vague, and the meaning can vary.

And if the audience doesn’t immediately understand what you are saying, you will quickly lose them.

Enhanced

A pretty normal word, right?

But although enhanced means ‘made better’, media interviews are better without it.

It is a bit like ‘innovative’ and ‘ground-breaking’ in that it is overused, ambiguous and irritating.

When it is combined with ‘better’ as in ‘better enhanced’, that irritation only grows. Look to avoid superlatives and be specific.

Optimise

This is similar to enhanced. It is also overused and too broad.

If you are really making things better – and not trying to make doing the same thing sound more exciting – tell us specifically what has changed and why it matters.

Reinventing the wheel

We won’t dwell on this one too much.

But it is a phrase we still hear too often, and it would be great if something new and original could be quickly created to take its place.

Learnings

I’m still trying- and failing - to learn to live with learnings. I’m not sure it is a real word, but it is one we now hear everywhere.

Sadly, it is likely to remain popular in the boardroom.

But knowledge, insight and lessons are always better options for media interviews.

Impact

This is a slightly different one because impact isn’t gobbledygook, like verticals. But the thing with impact is how it is increasingly used as a verb because people (including me) struggle with effect and affect.

Everything now has impact.

But the way it is used is vague and typically doesn’t reveal whether the impact is positive or negative. Or who is affected. It almost always requires more clarity.

Bandwidth

This should only be used if you are discussing your broadband speed.

There’s no more capacity for bandwidth in media interviews.

Some old favourites we still hear 

These are some of the horrible phrases that have recently grabbed our attention and should be avoided in media interviews.

But let’s not forget some old favourites we have highlighted in previous media training blogs.

I’m sorry to report that leverage continues to be frequently used, despite there being no known records of it improving the understanding of anything ever. ‘Use’ has and will always be a much better and more understandable alternative.

Despite no one ever using synergy in normal conversation, it still regularly infiltrates media interviews. My bet is that if you ask anyone what it means, they would struggle to offer a coherent definition. And that is a fundamental issue with spokespeople using it.

Another word that follows this theme is holistic. It is almost inevitably followed by the word approach. But again, the key question is whether your audience would understand what a holistic approach means. Or whether it would leave them bemused and confused.

And to finish, let’s talk about delighted. Everyone knows what delighted means. But we don’t need to know in media interviews (or press releases) that you are “delighted”. No one cares. And it’s assumed you are pretty happy to be talking about your positive news. We would be delighted if you could cut this out and say something more meaningful instead.

How can you stop using jargon in your media interviews?

As we stress during our media training sessions, it is vital that what you say is instantly understandable, even if the subject is complex.

The best way to achieve that simplicity is to use the same language you would use if you were telling the stories to your friends or family in a pub or café.

We’ve been providing media training courses for more than 40 years, and we know delegates can be reluctant to simplify language, fearing it will make them seem less professional.

While that feeling is understandable, it isn’t the case.

Stick to everyday language and back your message up with examples people can relate to – we all love stories - and you will deliver an interview that convinces, compels and persuades.

And you will leave us feeling delighted.

Media First are media and communications training specialists with nearly 40 years of experience.

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