Monday, August 26, 2013

Stop Using These 30 Phrases At Work!

What are the top 30 overused phrases at work? 

Bernard Marr, a best selling business author, spells out what he thinks are the 30 most irritating and overused phrases in the workplace in this article. Marr's list is both helpful and terrifying. Why? Because I find myself using a few of these phrases. But as a college student approaching the beginning of my career faster than ever, this list is extremely eye-opening.

A big downfall of my generation is the lack of professionalism. My generation seems to have missed the memo about how to communicate, dress, and act professionally. I have been told this time and time again by business people. With that stereotype in mind, I have tried to keep my eyes open for any sort of help cracking the code of business etiquette.

Marr's list proves helpful to me personally and I believe it could be helpful to others whether you are a secretary or CEO. Everyone should be weary of these phrases in their professional and personal lives. 

But now my question is what are the alternatives to these phrases?

Are these phrases overused? Yes. Are they irritating? To most people, yes. 

But what are the alternatives? What do you think should replace these outdated phrases?
  1. Going forward
  2. Drill-down
  3. End of play
  4. Touch base
  5. It's on my radar
  6. No brainer
  7. Best of breed
  8. Low hanging fruit
  9. Reach out
  10. Dive deeper
  11. Think outside the box
  12. Positive momentum
  13. On my plate
  14. At the end of the day
  15. Run the numbers
  16. Touch points
  17. Keep your eye on the ball
  18. Back to the drawing board
  19. Get the ball rolling
  20. Bang for your buck
  21. Close the deal
  22. When the rubber hits the road
  23. Shift paradigm
  24. Move the needle
  25. Game-changing
  26. Move the goal post
  27. Value added
  28. Win-win
  29. Across the piece
  30. All hands on deck

1 comment:

  1. I thought this was an extremely useful list. I agree with you where you spoke to our generations criticisms for being unprofessional. I like to think that as Terry students we have a leg up, but there are always things we won't know until we enter the real world and have some experience under our belts. In the meantime, this is a great place to start to learn how to communicate the most professionally.

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