What’s in a name? Well for me, quite a lot. Working with a fellow Kaizen team member recently on a design project, we were stopped in our tracks creating the title by one simple question:

Does that word have any ‘baggage’?

Meaning, would our potential customers have any historical or emotional context anchored to the word in question?

This reminded me of my last position within an organisation. I changed the name of my department from Training & Development to Learning & Development. The change in response from the business was almost immediate. Historically within the organisation, ‘training’ was something that was done to you, whereas ‘learning’ gave individuals a feeling of having more control over their development; thus creating greater engagement from them.

Take a look at the dictionary definitions

training n. 1. a. the process of bringing a person, etc.,  to an agreed standard of proficiency, etc., by practice and instruction.

learning n. 1. knowledge gained by study; instruction or scholarship. 2. the act of gaining knowledge.

Practice and instruction? Or gaining knowledge? Which feels better to you?

It may only be words on a page, but the impact upon your audience can be significant. Simply putting yourself in your audience’s shoes and understanding the impact of your words – seeing the ‘baggage’ - can mean the difference between engagement or apathy.

Here are some of my favourites…

educate  vb  1. to impart knowledge by formal instruction; to teach.

facilitate  vb to assist the progress of

staff  n. 1. a. a group of people employed by a company for executive, clerical, sales work etc. 4. a stick with some special use.

colleague n. a fellow worker.

induct vb. 1. to bring formally or install in an office, place.

welcome adj. 1. gladly and cordially received or admitted

delegate n. 1. a person chosen to act for another or others, esp. at a conference or meeting

participant adj. 1. one who takes part or  becomes actively involved, shares

This is why we always send out "Welcome Packs" rather than "Joining Instructions", and why people on our workshops are called "Participants" rather than "Delegates".  And why it's called "Brain Friendly Learning" rather than "Brain Friendly Training".

Call to action

• Consider your own communication. What baggage does your vocabulary carry?

• Replace the ‘excess baggage’ words with more emotionally positive ones

• Ask for feedback on the baggage content of your revised wording

This week’s FriendlyBrain Tip comes to you from Steve Marriott of Kaizen Training. Kaizen Training Limited is a well-established consulting and training firm based in the UK and offering its services to the global business community. Training for Excellence is a leading-edge Train the Trainer company based in the U.S. and providing training programs internationally. For more information, contact us at info@wetrain.biz