Acronyms deserve their bad reputation. Those TLAs (three-letter acronyms) are guilty of excluding, confusing, and delaying readers. And what’s worse–many times we can’t agree on what they stand for. Nevertheless, like carbohydrates, snowmobiles, and pigeons, there’s a place for them.
For example, CEO is just right in the title of this post. That’s because all readers recognize it, and "Chief Executive Officer" is simply too long in this situation. Between experts too, it’s unnecessary and can be downright odd to spell things out. With a group of corporate trainers, for instance, my use of "American Society for Training and Development" rather than ASTD would paint me as an outsider.
In the July issue of T&D, ASTD’s monthly magazine, Editor Rex Davenport made a case for when not to bring acronyms to the table: when it’s the senior executive table, and you are not the senior exec. He used the example of SME for "Subject Matter Expert," especially when pronounced smee.
Davenport writes:
" . . . the road to miscommunication is paved with three-letter bombs. And when you turn those acronyms into odd-sounding words, you are hurting yourself. Do you really think your CEO is going to pause for even one second to ask you what a Smee is? Don’t bet on it."
He provided this guidance:
"If a term doesn’t show up every day in The Wall Street Journal, don’t use it with your boss. If you have earned a seat at the big table, don’t undermine your presence by speaking in anything less than clear, concise business terms."
The same applies to business writing. My guideline is this: WIDSIO.
When in doubt, spell it out.
