From PR-Speak to English...

John Gruber  has a great commentary post on the recently-released FAQ regarding Abode's accquistion it its one rival in the graphic design industry, Macromedia. An excerpt:

 

Do you anticipate a reduction in force as a result of this   transaction?

   

When two successful growing companies join together, the result is a   combined organization that creates new and exciting opportunities.   The combination will lead to powerful new areas of innovation, new   products and solutions, and an acceleration of our respective growth   agendas. At the same time, there will be some duplication of employee   functions between the two companies, and upon the close of the   transaction, we anticipate some level of reduction in force. While we   anticipate the integration team will identify opportunities for cost   savings, the primary motivation for this acquisition is to continue   to expand and grow our businesses into new markets. 

[Translation]Yes.

Remember, while lawyers and other legal professionals are more likely than any other profession to read through your printed material or detailed website once you've convinced them to cvisit your website or read your brouchure... if you overload your materials with excessive PR-speak you'll turn them off, just like any other audience.

Never use dozens of words when only one will do.

Read the full post here.

Comments

[Conrad]

I, for one, HATE long winded press releases, marketing brochures, or what have you. I HATE having to call and get price sheets, and I HATE calling and getting a sales voicemail box.

I suppose I'm like an attorney in that regard:

If I'm not important enough to you to staff your salesforce with enough people to answer my call, when I call, then I'm sure I'm important enough to your competitor. Even if his prices are a little steeper or his product doesn't work quite as smoothly as yours, I see it like this: If you don't have adequate sales staff (the people trying to take my money,) then why should I assume you have adequate support staff?

[Shawn Struck]

ON top of that, people are tired of getting caught in endless voicemail and voicemenu phone loops.

If you create the impression that a call isn't even important enough to be taken by a real human, how can the customer feel listened to?