Jac
Phillips
"Our scarcest resource is time so our opportunity is to speak directly and simply. And there you have efficiency AND effectiveness"
Jac
Phillips
Senior Director, Head of Marketing, Visa Australia, NZ & South Pacific
Davor
Filipovic
"Things that look very simple are usually the hardest, and that is also the case with business communication. By using complex words that sound well in business jargon, but are shallow in essence, barriers between people are created. Jargon Free Fridays offers opportunity to build communication bridges among people which is very important to me."
Davor
Filipovic
Assistant Professor University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics and Business
Michael
Ebeid
"Jargon-free Fridays is a great reminder of the value of real conversations, where our personalities and passions can facilitate better communication."
Michael
Ebeid
Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director SBS
Freddie
Covington
"Jargon divides and excludes. Those who ‘lean in’ to it, typically have no ‘deliverables’ to speak of so they prefer to ‘paradigm shift’ the conversation in empty ‘rhetoric’ rather than ‘open their kimono’ and say what’s truly going on behind the ‘greenwashing’. Let’s stop the nonsense once and for all!"
Freddie
Covington
Senior Vice President Marketing & Cross Border, Asia Pacific VISA
Christine
Corbett
"If we're serious about putting the customer first - it starts with communicating in a genuine and authentic way. It's up to all of us to be the voice for our customers - if we see or hear jargon, we need to call our colleagues on it, most won't even realise they're doing it. Bring on Jargon Free Fridays!"
Christine
Corbett
Chief Customer Officer
Australia Post
Dan
Gregory
"Jargon is all about power. It's a linguistic device for either partitioning off information or asserting specialised knowledge. It's a way of de-personalising and dehumanising meaning so that unpleasant tasks might be euphemised or excused. The alternative, however, is to deal with what's real and develop more direct, effective and integrous communication."
Dan
Gregory
Chief Executive Officer
The Impossible Institute
Michelle
Loader
"If you take away the jargon and speak with a voice others can understand, connect with and relate to, the response might surprise and delight you."
Michelle
Loader
Chief Executive Officer, Chair, Director & Mentor
Kate
Hughes
"I hate corporate jargon. It’s often used to avoid a difficult conversation or to sound impressive but it actually makes us sound pretentious, it’s a terrible way to communicate and at its worst it’s divisive. So, help me keep that kimono closed, leave the low hanging fruit on the tree and let’s leave the unpacking for the removalists. If we can take the jargon out of Fridays I reckon we can be free of it for good."
Kate
Hughes
Chief Risk Officer
TELSTRA
Stephen
Purcell
"Clear communication is essential if leaders want to truly connect with their people and the customers/clients their businesses serve. Hearts and minds are not captured by language that means nothing and creates barriers."
Stephen
Purcell
Managing Partner
DibbsBarker
Heather
Polglase
"Using jargon and acronyms that polarises others can only achieve one thing – making ourselves feel better at the expense of someone else’s valuable confidence and ability to contribute."
Heather
Polglase
Head of Human Resource. Spark New Zealand
Natalie
Mina
"Real, authentic language encourages real, authentic behaviour. Shared understanding is so much easier to achieve if listening isn’t interrupted by simultaneous decoding."
Natalie
Mina
Corporate Strategy Program Director. Accenture Australia
Veronica
Marshall
"As leaders it is our responsibility to foster an inclusive environment. The use of jargon in the workplace creates barriers that can prevent employees from meeting their full potential. Jargon Free Fridays provides an opportunity to practice removing those barriers and provides employees the opportunity to be innovative and to thrive."
Veronica
Marshall
Director, Executive Resources. NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Cathy
Foley
"Language is the basis for communication but too often it is muddied by specialist jargon and acronyms. Scientists, technologists and managers can hide behind these words disempowering many people. Our challenge is to use plain words for science, technology and management. Clarity and simple language creates transparency and ready access to information and the ability to relate to each other across the boundaries of expertise, socioeconomics and culture. Only good things can come from that!"
Cathy
Foley
Deputy Director and Science Director, Manufacturing CSIRO
Liliana
Palihovici
“In a business environment, just like in politics, it’s important to remember that what you do, how you do it, and how it’s delivered has a direct impact on people and perceptions. We don’t always notice that our communication is stuck in professional jargon and it is difficult for others to clearly understand our message. I passionately believe, and my political experience proved it to be true, that the more accessible and easy-to-understand communication is the more success you can achieve.”
Liliana
Palihovici
Deputy Speaker of Parliament of the Republic of Moldova
Miranda
Kovacic
"Jargon Free Friday is a great opportunity to promote a culture that is more authentic and candid. Good practice to drop words so overused they are rendered almost meaningless."
Miranda
Kovacic
Head of Technology, Data Delivery ANZ
Fiona
Michel
"Einstein said, “If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.” I love the idea of Jargon Free Fridays to keep it real, make it easy, and level the playing field."
Fiona
Michel
Chief Human Resource Officer, Auckland District Health Board
Wendy
Bernard
"With Jargon Free Fridays, we can all do our part to make communication clearer and more accessible to all. This is a genius concept!"
Wendy
Bernard
Attorney at Law & Founder, The Bernard Law Group
Rod
Maule
"Working across different organisations over several years one of the greatest challenges is understanding the jargon used by each business. To make life more challenging I also work in a technical role where Jargon is our reason for being. Health and Safety is riddled with hard to understand jargon. I need to constantly challenge myself to keep it simple stupid. The Friday challenge is a great way to do this."
Rod
Maule
National Manager Work Health and Safety. Australian Red Cross Blood Service
Tenille
Cromwell
"Communication has the power to include, exclude, inspire, and even isolate individuals. By using jargon, communication can become disingenuous, and unintentionally close people off to the message being delivered. When people communicate from the heart, they become more believable, relatable, and ultimately more inspiring."
Tenille
Cromwell
Chief Pilot, Airborne Product Support. Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation
Confucius
“Life is really simple but we insist on making it complicated”
Confucius
Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher