Sometimes Plain Language is a Good Thing

 

 

In the security field, just like the rest of the emergency services, we have a certain industrial language. There are words that we use at work which are rarely if ever used off duty and would not be understood by the public if we did. That being said, overusing lingo just to show you know the words does not make you seem smarter or even more professional, in fact it usually ends up making you look less so.

 

One of my first security instructors had two great examples of this. First he picked a student and asked them how they got to class. The student said he drove. Then he asked the student what he did right after he parked his car. The student said he got out fo the car and walked into the building the class was in. The instructor asked again you got out of your car? The student said yes. The Instructor then asked you got out of the car, not exited your vehicle?

 

The second example was even more fun. He told us something and then asked us way he had done. It took a little prodding to get the answer he wanted but someone finally gave the answer that he had said something to us. Then he stood up on his chair, held out his arms and said the same thing louder. Getting down he told us that was the difference between saying something and stating something. The big loud dramatic version was making a statement.

 

The point of these exchanges was to illustrate too much lingo in report writing. Why if in conversation we say got out of the car would we write this down as exiting the vehicle? There is nothing wrong with writing that the witness said something, you do not have to write that the victim stated something, although both would be correct. Some people think that sounding more official and more formal makes you sound smarter. They are wrong.

 

In a recent case I had to talk to a security officer on the phone. I asked him where he was and his reply was "I have left the location". Now this case had been spread between two addresses so I had to ask him what he meant by the location as there were at least two locations involved in this case. He then said he had left town and was on his way home. There was no reason to not simply say he left and was on his way home. The end result was that he sounded like he was being evasive with his answers not sounding more professional like I am sure he thought.

 

There are certain words we do need to use in the course of our duties. Obviously we sometimes need to describe or designate the people we deal with by terms like victim, suspect, patient or complainant. Vehicles sometimes need to be numbered when dealing with multiple vehicle collisions.

 

Still we do not routinely refer to handcuffs as metal human restraint devices. Parking lots are not grade level exterior vehicle storage facilities. The clerk at the gas station is not a petroleum transferal technician.

 

We should try using as much plain language as possible, especially when talking with each other. Yes we will need to know our job related vocabulary and yes there will be times when no other word will do. However in most normal conversations, we can save time and effort by just talking like a normal person.

 

Alan F. Shaw

Partner - Sound Training Group LLP