The 20 Most Used PR Jargon Words … with a JWC Twist

What ARE the “20 worst jargon words” public relations people use according to journalists? A post on Ragan PR Daily by Gini Dietrich cited PR agency twelve thirty eight’s study of the offenders. However, we believe we are well-positioned to comment on their usage, by way of this faux-release (the all-too-often used terms are underlined):

First-Rate, Innovative Hot Body Products Revolutionizes Unique Market

Hot Body Products, a marquee distributor of this year’s hotly anticipated lotions for beach and bath, is reaching its end-users with samples and cents-off coupons, obviously utilizing the most cutting-edge techniques to reach vertical audiences and influencers in all potential markets.

The ongoing challenge to the company’s drive to capture this market, is to utilize the verbiage that will most compel customers to become evangelists themselves for spreading the word.

HBP recognizes that the paradigm has shifted with an astonishing 50 percent of all communication professionals optimizing phygital projects to reach the elite. The company stress using dynamic SoLoMo tools for our deliverables and promise clients will be rocketed to iconic status.

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We thought the original list of words not to use in a press release was pretty entertaining, too:

1. Issues (problems)
2. Dynamic (likely not to be)
3. Paradigm (a “silk purse” word)
4. Elite (you wouldn’t normally get to attend)
5. Hotly anticipated (never heard of it)
6. End-user (customer)
7. Influencer (a person who probably doesn’t have influence)
8. Evangelist (a tendency to tweet with loads of hashtags)
9. Deliverables (tasks)
10. Icon/iconic (use before 01.01.01 or never)
11. Rocketed (made modest progress)
12. “An astonishing x per cent” (it rarely is astonishing)
13. Marquee event/marquee client (probably “very local”)
14. Going forward (in the future)
15. Ongoing (a bit behind schedule)
16. Optimized (changed by consultants then changed back)
17. Horizontal, vertical, etc. (two words in lieu of a strategy)
18. Phygital (easy to press or swipe, we guess) [JWC comment: bridges digital to physical to drive unique interactive experiences]
19. SoLoMo (no idea) [JWC comment: social+local+mobile]
20. Well-positioned (hopeful but a bit scared)

*Note: This post was a group effort, with contributions from the entire staff.