At its worst, “business speak” — or the particular language we use at work — can be jargony, confusing and even exclusionary. But it doesn’t have to be, says journalist and comedian Bob Wiltfong. Showcasing a smattering of corporate acronyms and phrases that don’t make much sense without context (think: “OKRs” and “when pigs fly”), he gives three tips on how to cut the BS out of business speak so we can all better understand each other at work.
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Ria sahni
September 8, 2023 at 12:12 pm
Finally BS❤ thanks TED!
Akira
September 8, 2023 at 12:25 pm
I’m a horrible businessman because I’m brutally honest.
Hasbullah says
September 8, 2023 at 12:26 pm
Uise peak
Sonja Rivera
September 8, 2023 at 1:11 pm
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
ICECLEARVISION
September 8, 2023 at 2:38 pm
Usiness Peak
Charem the Shadox
September 8, 2023 at 2:50 pm
Oof. I notice that attempts of humor in these TED Talks tend to go poorly. 1:50 – He basically forces an applause over the fact he wrote a BS book (which clearly the audience was more just ‘oh okay’ about), then follows it up by saying he can tell his kids that he got an auditorium to applaud him for all of the ‘worthless work’ he did for years…which explains the applause-forcing, he really wanted to say that line.
Was it an attempt at a joke, a brag, or a desire to get a pat on the back for all the work he did? Regardless, nobody laughed… Because being forced to applaud only to hear that follow-up just isn’t very funny.
I know this is just one small part of the presentation, but I dunno. I would expect a guy breaking down how dumb and posturing business-speak is to know better than to posture himself.
It’s kinda BS.
dirtydrew69
September 8, 2023 at 3:00 pm
The whole job of the marketing department is to BS so good luck there
Cédric loneux
September 9, 2023 at 12:40 am
Exactly
navdrum001
September 9, 2023 at 5:04 am
You can BS without using BS language 🤌🏽
Work of Heart
September 8, 2023 at 4:54 pm
No….maritime law took over
Scotts Walks
September 8, 2023 at 6:22 pm
Usiness Peak
TMM
September 8, 2023 at 7:57 pm
Remember when Bob was on the Daily Show? Those were the days.
Duy Hoàng
September 8, 2023 at 9:25 pm
What is BS ?
coach
September 8, 2023 at 11:02 pm
All I heard was a bunch of BS, man go home and try again. TED is so hard up they will take anybody.
triggerhappydad65
September 8, 2023 at 11:03 pm
Ending….
“how little less bs there would be….”
I think he meant ;
“how MUCH less bs there would be……”
Festus Demilade Oni
September 9, 2023 at 1:31 am
Nice 👍
Jae Morrison
September 9, 2023 at 9:03 am
Usiness peak. I did it, a Ted talk wasn’t required
K2
September 9, 2023 at 9:16 am
Although funny, thoughtful, and useful advice, but a lot of what he’s considering BS are just common idioms, things like “when pigs fly” for instance. Although these phrases may not be universally known, it’s not that much different than using any given word and similarly, these phrases are usually used often enough that they are recorded in dictionaries.
People like to have expression when speaking, we don’t always want to speak in the most boring, literal way possible. And this is not unique to English. In fact, a curiousy search did not even show me a single known language that lacks idoms. I don’t think that using idioms is trying to be exclusive/hostile to outsiders, it’s just how language naturally evolves.
That all said, being careful when you have someone unfamilar with your way of speaking, taking care to explain what you mean can really go a long way.
JD Academy
September 9, 2023 at 9:25 am
Basically have effective communication and not use jargon like the good ole days by Gen “X to the baby boomers
Stellar Ripple
September 9, 2023 at 2:40 pm
Taking the BS out of Business Speak is going to result in Usiness Peak
Jawn Explores
September 9, 2023 at 4:05 pm
To be frank, the whole juice of the talk was up when he went from let’s make financially useful conversation more universally accessible to let’s get rid of interesting idioms and sayings because the origin is lost, or something?
Charles Magnuson
September 9, 2023 at 4:48 pm
The camera crew needs to chill. This is a lecture, not a sporting event.
€wkx.MS.xkw£
September 9, 2023 at 5:06 pm
Link signals
€wkx.MS.xkw£
September 9, 2023 at 5:07 pm
Perfectness cannot be performed
€wkx.MS.xkw£
September 9, 2023 at 5:09 pm
Promote development
€wkx.MS.xkw£
September 9, 2023 at 5:10 pm
Perform correctly
Cade Wright
September 9, 2023 at 7:46 pm
Usiness peak
Yahya Hautamäki
September 9, 2023 at 11:31 pm
Sorry to break it to you but _every_ specialisation has it’s own jargon, from collecting stamps to space travel to sports. Think about healthcare. It’s not ”elite” or ”white guys”. It makes expressing complex ideas simple and fast. Your friend has to go through the learning curve like everyone else.
SICHIL CHOI
September 10, 2023 at 2:05 am
굿
L Fii
September 10, 2023 at 9:30 am
Wow!
L Fii
September 10, 2023 at 9:40 am
Oh my god this is fucking amazing!!!!!
MeltedPearls
September 10, 2023 at 11:31 am
This is a godsend, although this first-semester MBA student is working hard to absorb these terms, lol.
Hiệp Khách Hành
September 11, 2023 at 3:19 am
Thanks sir ❤❤
P W
September 11, 2023 at 8:48 am
Well that was a load of BS.
c h
September 11, 2023 at 9:29 am
I’m going to start a consulting firm called Uine Peak we take the, we take the BS out of Business Speak
truhhhhhhhokIII3
September 11, 2023 at 12:08 pm
Uine peak
I did it too!
I just took all the B’s and S’s out of the word “business speak”
蕭逸才
September 12, 2023 at 8:17 am
这大概就是国内阿里巴巴那一套语言吧……