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Board of Regents workshop urges simpler language, fewer acronyms in higher‑education messaging
Summary
At a communications workshop hosted by the Louisiana Board of Regents, staff and board members learned techniques to avoid jargon, explain complex programs to nonexperts and practice 30‑second elevator pitches; presenters used real‑world miscommunication examples to show the stakes of unclear messaging.
The Louisiana Board of Regents held a communications workshop focused on making technical higher‑education language clear and accessible, the presenter said. Staff and board members spent the session learning how to ‘‘kill the jargon,’’ lead with a single point and tailor messages for audiences ranging from policymakers to a 10‑year‑old.
The session opened with an exercise on the ‘‘curse of knowledge,’’ a concept introduced by Elizabeth Newton, to demonstrate that experts often overestimate how much others understand. The presenter led an in‑room tapping demo and said the original study produced very low correct‑guess rates, underscoring the gap between expert and public understanding.
Workshop leaders used high‑profile examples to show real risks when communication fails: a 1999 NASA mission lost after a units mismatch, a 2014 hospital miscommunication that let an Ebola patient leave before tracing could occur, and pilot confusion over Boeing’s MCAS software. ‘‘Simple is not dumb,’’ the presenter said, adding that clearer explanations improve training, boost productivity and reduce harm.
Participants practiced translating typical higher‑education phrases into plain language. In one exercise about the state funding formula, a participant put it this way: it’s like an allowance you get based on what you did last year and how you performed. Attendees also rewrote an AI‑generated mission sentence filled with terms such as ‘‘operationalize’’ and ‘‘framework’’ into a plain‑language description about using data and partnerships to help students gain job‑related skills.
The group discussed specific topics they commonly explain to outsiders: universal transfer pathways (summed up as ‘‘take classes somewhere and transfer them’’), the role of proprietary (trade) schools, and library services platforms (described with a card‑catalog analogy). Several participants noted that some acronyms in the board orientation binder are outdated or misleading — for example, the Southern Regional Education Board is a coalition of states, not a governing board with authority over the Regents.
The presenter emphasized tailoring messages to audiences: one version for colleagues, another for the media and a third for the general public. To help staff practice brevity, the communications team will run an elevator‑pitch session Wednesday, where attendees will present 30‑second pitches and peers will vote for ‘‘best’’ and ‘‘most creative’’ entries. The presenter said a short post‑event survey (four Likert items and two open questions) and workshop handouts will be posted to SharePoint and shared by email.
Participants closed by noting the practical value of the training for legislative briefings and everyday communications. The presenter reiterated, ‘‘The curse of knowledge is real’’ and asked attendees to be their work’s best translators before adjourning.
