Andrea Durrheim

“WXVGL!” Omg! What does that mean? Don’t search it. As far as I can see, it isn’t taken… yet. However, I expect it soon will be. Currently, it’s just what I say as I wake up in the morning – and it means nothing other than that I’m still non-verbal. But hey! Acronyms rule and there seem to be more of them every day. 

Do you have a love-hate relationship with acronyms? I certainly do! They save us time – but they also place us at risk of writing content that looks like alphabet soup and is as easy to read.

As for jargon, it falls into a similar category. You can sum up a paragraph’s worth of explanations by using a single word. There’s just one problem: if readers don’t understand the words you’re using, they won’t be able to extract meaning from what you’ve written. 

So, acronyms and jargon have their place in some instances and should be avoided altogether, or be introduced with caution, in others. Need some guidelines? Here we go!

Consider Your Audience and Your Role

Are you writing content that’s meant to be read by industry insiders? Or are you hoping to introduce people to a subject area they may not have encountered before? Perhaps your audience consists of a mixture of the two. 

If you’re pretty sure that your topic is only relevant to people who already have some grasp of the subject area, you can go ahead and pepper your content with acronyms and terminology. But in most cases, the audience consists of a mixture of people with some background knowledge and folks who are trying to grasp the basics. 

As a content writer, your role is to present information in a digestible way. But you also don’t want to “dumb down” so much that you bore a semi-informed or highly-informed audience. After all, you want to present yourself as an authoritative source of information – someone who knows what they’re talking about.

Introduce Terminology and Acronyms Clearly

If you want people to understand an acronym or technical term, it’s best to explain it. This may seem obvious, but when you are a subject matter expert, it’s easy to overlook the fact that what you know isn’t always common knowledge. Be aware of terminology. Define it clearly, and never introduce an acronym without writing it out in full first. Here are a couple of examples. 

Define: “Photosynthesis is the process that plants use to capture energy from the sun and convert it into energy-rich nutrients.” 

Expand: “The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) was passed to combat identity theft and protect people’s privacy.”

Of course, we could go on to explain photosynthesis or POPIA in greater depth, but unless explaining them is the focus of your article, it would be a digression. Nevertheless, these simple ways of introducing terminology and acronyms, allow you to use them to prove other points.

Remember that Acronyms are Harder on the Reader Than Terminology

Even when you’re talking to an “in-group,” abbreviations can be confusing. The Association for Psychological Science (APS), despite its acronym, says that acronyms are a way of “alienating the audience.” It recommends spelling out the words instead of using the handy abbreviation. 

As a researcher, I read a lot, and I have to agree. Even once I know what an abbreviation stands for, I often have to pause, backpedal, and remind myself about what the author is talking about.

In some instances, it’s just a matter of stopping to think or scrolling back to the place where the writer introduced the acronym, but acronyms still slow me down. Most readers won’t think and won’t scroll back. Who can blame them? As a writer, you’re supposed to make things easy to understand. 

At the same time, acronyms can be a nice shortcut. If they’re not too obscure, define them, use them for a couple of paragraphs, and then give the full version the next time the topic comes up. Alternatively, let people know about the acronym, but keep using the long-form version. 

Balance the Needs of All Readers

As a content writer, you are creating material for a heterogeneous audience. Some of them are already quite well-informed and are looking for fresh insights. Don’t make them work too hard to find them.

Others have a limited grasp of the subject matter but are interested in it. Make it easy to understand what you’re talking about without putting off your “in-group” with too many basic explanations. 

Tricky? It certainly can be! And that’s one of the reasons why good content writing is something of an art – even when all you’re trying to do is reflect the facts.

At this point, I do the call to action or CTA (note the acronym showing that I know my stuff). “Blah-de-blah… content writer… clarity… empathy… research… nice to read… contact me.”  Now wasn’t that impressive?