This is the educational moment I gave to our Toastmasters club last night.

Speak Geek

Ba Weep Granna Weep Nini Bon. Klatuu Verada Niktuu May the Force be with you. Ah, that one you understand. Now, we’re cooking with fuel oil. I know some of you are thinking of course I understood the last one, it was English. If you spoke geek, you would recognize the references. I speak fluent geek with emphasis on the Star Wars, Star Trek, Transformers, 80s cartoons, and anime sub-dialects. I’m not telling you this to brag about my knowledge of obscure media, but to reinforce the concept of knowing your audience. If we are delivering a speech on a technical subject, we would reduce the jargon for people unfamiliar with the subject, but that jargon would have special meaning when talking to a room of subject matter experts. If we are going to us acronyms, it’s a good idea to make sure that the acronyms don’t have another common usage for your audience. Such as when your national program office shares the same acronym as the inpatient mental health ward. Ask me how I know. Another is watching what idioms and references we use using. Otherwise you’re standing up here wondering why people aren’t responding when you’re giving them the universal greeting from Transformers. Live long and prosper.