Perfectly Imperfect

Have you ever been in a conversation where you did not understand something that was said? 

I have been in this scenario many times. To be transparent, I do not watch television often, and I am not the best at keeping up with pop culture. When someone references a popular Netflix show or tells a joke about a certain rapper, I often have no knowledge of what is being said. I do not have the necessary context to understand the message behind the words. 

When William Zinsser told the story of the oblivious scientist giving a speech to entertainment professionals in his book, On Writing Well, I laughed out loud. It is a story that I have experienced on multiple occasions. The scientist was using certain words that the audience knew nothing about. It is the comedic idea of the overly intellectual, doctorate-bearing professor with a vocabulary that goes over the students’ heads during their lecture. 

But people speak and write like this every day. We are all guilty of this. Think about email, for example. When I email my friends, I usually have a proper introduction, well-constructed sentences, and a conclusion. But when I communicate with those same friends over text, my writing is completely different. I am more laid back and less formal. 

Look at social media. That college student you see wearing a suit in their LinkedIn profile? Their Instagram profile tells a different story – one that’s more relatable to friends and more of an honest reflection of their character than the one that reads “increased engagement on channel by X percent through implementation of Y and Z.” 

Who are we trying to fool by using highly intellectual words and phrases? Imagine if every conversation you had with your friend sounded like you were in a job interview. “Today was fantastic, and I believe I can effectively apply my experiences from my day to benefit the quality of my life in the near future.” I highly doubt that friendship would last. 

Yet, we as a society do this every day. We talk to our friends one way, and to our superiors in another. We text with acronyms and write emails that read like novels. This paradoxical, “perfectly imperfect” relationship is not necessarily a bad thing – different scenarios call for different ways of writing – but we must acknowledge the fact that in doing this, we can potentially create a communication barrier.  

Regardless of the scenario in which you are communicating in, one thing stands above all: understanding your audience. Your LinkedIn audience is different from your Snapchat one, and that is okay. But make sure whoever you’re talking to understands you — and the real you at that.