The speaker begins by discussing their familiarity with "business speak" or BS, which is a language used in the corporate world to describe things in a convoluted manner. They mention how they first encountered this language through their wife, who works as a Chief Marketing Officer. They jokingly refer to themselves as an expert in BS and share that they have created a BS dictionary.
They explain that their presentation is about the rise of BS in the business world and how to make it more understandable and less exclusive. They emphasize the importance of using BS to be inclusive rather than exclusive and encourage clarity in communication.
The speaker also touches on the origins of certain phrases and expressions, highlighting the importance of understanding where these phrases come from to avoid miscommunication.
Overall, the presentation is about simplifying business language and making communication more accessible and meaningful.
1. The speaker is fluent in "BS" or business speak, a language used in professional settings to define and describe things.
2. The speaker first learned the language of BS through their wife, who is a chief marketing officer for a global consulting firm.
3. The speaker's wife used terms like "boil the ocean" and "tiger team SWOT analysis" in business speak, which the speaker found difficult to understand initially.
4. The speaker spent years compiling, researching, and writing a BS dictionary.
5. The speaker's presentation aims to highlight the rise of BS in the global economy and provide ways to remove BS from business speak.
6. The speaker uses the example of "EBITDA" as a BS term and asks the audience to stomp their feet if they know what it means.
7. The speaker notes that BS is not a common language and is the language of the elite.
8. The speaker shares a personal experience where five oil executives used BS words that the speaker's colleague didn't know, suggesting three possible reasons for this behavior: they didn't know any better, they wanted to assess the colleague's knowledge about the business, or they were just jerks.
9. The speaker advises using BS to be inclusive and not exclusive, and not to use stale business cliches or big words that people in the room don't understand.
10. The speaker suggests that if we're using BS a lot in our business speak, it may be like Shakespeare said "Sound and Fury signifying nothing."
11. The speaker shares examples of common phrases in English that have lost their original meaning due to mispronunciation or lack of common knowledge about their origin.
12. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of expressing fresh ideas without using stale business cliches or big words, and appreciating that a lot of BS is lost in translation.