How to keep the precision of specialist language while making your work clear, compelling and fundable.
Many years ago, I was in a job interview explaining the concept of a startup accelerator. I described cohort models, ecosystem partnerships, catalytic capital, and scale-up support. I felt in my element. I knew how all this worked and I had the language to describe it.
The interviewer – a senior nonprofit leader, someone who knows their stuff – paused. “I don’t understand what you have just said,” he said.
I tried again. This time I simplified it. I swapped a few phrases, shortened a sentence or two. I thought I was speaking plain English.
He looked straight at me and said, “I still don’t understand. Let’s move on.”
I did not get the job.
That moment has stayed with me for years. I thought I was a great communicator and that I could flex my style for any audience. Well, not that day! I had fallen deep into a jargon pit and couldn’t seem to dig myself out.
Jargon serves a purpose
The word “jargon” entered English in the fourteenth century. It originally meant the chattering of birds. Over time it came to describe the specialised language of trades and professions. Linguists describe jargon as a form of “in-group language”: a way to signal expertise and shared knowledge within a community.
Sociolinguist Basil Bernstein wrote about how language codes shape access and belonging in professional settings. Specialist terms are useful because they are super precise: but they also tend to exclude anyone who does not share the same code. Cognitive scientist Steven Pinker has argued that experts suffer from a “curse of knowledge”: once we know something well, it becomes hard to imagine not knowing it. That makes us poorer as communicators as we forget to connect properly with people who don’t have the same experience of the topic.
In other words, jargon is not laziness. It is often a sign of mastery.
In the right setting, it has clear uses:
- It allows precision between experts
- It captures complex ideas in short phrases
- It signals credibility within a field
- It protects nuance in technical work
An accelerator programme, for example, does mean something specific in innovation circles. It is not just training. It implies time-bound support, mentoring, networks, funding, and growth targets.
But outside that circle, the word can mean almost anything.
When precision becomes a barrier
In our work with nonprofits and social enterprises, we often encounter organisations doing serious, high-level work. Systems change. Blended finance. Human-centred design. Policy influencing.
The work is real. The language is real.
Yet when that language travels beyond the immediate peer group, it can slow everything down. Donors hesitate. Partners need extra explanation. Boards struggle to summarise the mission in their own words.
There is research behind this. A study published in Cognition found that adding unnecessary complexity to explanations reduces perceived intelligence and credibility, even when the core idea is strong. People trust ideas they can grasp.
We have seen this in live projects. One client relied heavily on sector terminology in their key messaging. Internally, it felt accurate. Externally, it made conversations longer and proposals denser. Once we translated the language into outcomes and stories, engagement improved almost immediately.
The organisation did not change. The words did.
How to spot the jargon you have become blind to
The hardest jargon to detect is the language that feels normal.
Over time, specialist terms stop sounding technical. They feel obvious. That is the curse of knowledge in action.
Two simple tests can help you spot jargon you’ve become immune to:
- The dinner table test
Tell someone about your work, or show them a short paragraph from your website. If they can’t explain it back in their own words straight away, there is probably hidden jargon. This is not about intelligence. It is about shared context. - The verb swap test
Look for abstract nouns that end in “-tion”, “-ment”, or “-ity”: implementation, alignment, sustainability, scalability. Replace them with concrete verbs. Instead of “capacity strengthening”, try “training local teachers to deliver reading lessons”. If the sentence becomes clearer, the original probably relied on jargon.
In that interview years ago, I could have said: “We help small education organisations grow so they can reach more children, faster, with funding and expert support.” That was the essence. I hid it behind terminology.
… and finally
Brilliant organisations develop rich internal language. The challenge is knowing when to step outside it.
Clear language does not dilute the richness or complexity of our work: it makes that richness accessible. And accessible ideas travel further.
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AMS is a boutique communications agency that helps purpose-driven organisations with their communications strategy and execution. We support leadership teams to translate complex ideas into messaging that resonates with funders, partners, and communities without losing depth. To find out more, visit our homepage or get in touch.
