The Jargon-Strip Clarity Test
Say what your product does out loud in plain answers; if the writing can't match, strip the jargon.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 90%
Founders and marketers describe products clearly in conversation but write in impenetrable jargon ('robust multiplayer experience,' 'human-in-the-loop collaboration'). Gerber's fix is a diagnostic: answer four basic questions verbally in one sentence each, read the written version aloud, and delete any phrase you can't plainly define. The spoken answer is almost always the better copy.
Origin
Emilie Gerber, Six Eastern — she estimates at least 50% of press releases suffer from trained 'marketing-speak' and part of her job is stripping it away.
Core principles
- 01People articulate their product fine verbally; the problem appears only in writing
- 02If you can't define a phrase in plain words, it doesn't belong
- 03Reading aloud exposes copy that no listener would understand
- 04Removing words and jargon is a distinct skill from adding explanation
How to run it
- 1
Answer the four basic questions verbally
Say aloud, one sentence each: What does the product do? Who is it for? Who are your customers? Why should people care / what's new and timely?
Pro tip Your spoken answers are usually close to the copy you actually want — transcribe them.
- 2
Read the written version out loud
Read your press release or description aloud and check whether a listener would understand it.
Pro tip Test it on someone: if they can't tell you what the company does after hearing it, it fails.
Watch out Terms like 'robust multiplayer experience' or 'human-in-the-loop collaboration' sound smart but convey nothing.
- 3
Strip jargon and swap in the spoken version
For each fuzzy phrase, articulate what it actually means; replace the copy with that plain articulation and cut redundant words.
Pro tip Stripping jargon is the first step; concision (removing words without over-explaining) is the second.
Watch out Avoid disingenuous framing too — e.g. '700% growth since stealth' can mean 1 customer to 7; give real color like 'six figures in revenue, ~30% quarterly growth.'
In the wild
A press release said a product 'combines AI assistance, human-in-the-loop collaboration and a robust multiplayer experience' — unintelligible. TechCrunch instead wrote it as 'a new automation startup setting out to eat Zapier's lunch... beyond triggers and actions.'
→ The reporter's plain, incumbent-anchored framing was instantly understandable where the company's own copy was not.
Common mistakes
Writing in trained marketing-speak
People are trained to think professional writing must be dense and jargon-laden, so they write what they'd never say — over half of releases read this way.
Vanity percentage stats
'700% increase since exiting stealth' is disingenuous (could be 1 to 7 customers) and reporters never include it; specific revenue/adoption color is credible.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders and comms teams writing product announcements, press releases, or launch blog posts
Not ideal for
Deeply technical products pitched to technical reporters and audiences, where precise domain language is appropriate (though still clear and concise)
From the transcript
“just like read it out loud like read it out loud and see if someone understands it”
“talking through like the basic questions like what does this product do who is it for who are your customers”
“strip out all the jargon that's like the first step”
“since exiting stealth in May we've witnessed a seven 700% increase in organizations using our product”
“our Revenue hit six figures at the end of last year and has been growing about 30% each quarter”
From the episode
The ultimate guide to PR
Emilie Gerber (founder of Six Eastern)