Jargon Giraffe
When MOVE San Antonio co-founder Alex Birnel re-joined MOVE Texas as Advocacy Manager in 2018, he brought a simple tool to meeting spaces that solved a major hurdle bringing in new people into the work: jargon.
Acronyms, abbreviations, and academic language abound in the progressive sector. Often as we gain knowledge, work alongside each other, and become more proficient at our skills, organizers unintentionally begin to speak in a new coded language.
“How was the VR per hour at UTSA during NVRD? Did you batch and data enter your PTVs? Are your ready to pivot from the Lege to municipal GOTV next week?”
Imagine yourself as a volunteer on their first day in the field: Would you understand what these sentences mean? I certainly would not.
Alex saw early on that jargon was a barrier to building a people-driven, people-led movement. So he introduced MOVE to the Jargon Giraffe.
Here’s how it works: Whenever anyone is speaking and uses words that were not known or confusing, listeners would put up their jargon giraffes — a hand gesture in the shape of a giraffe (see below) — that silently asks the speaker to pause and explain the abbreviation or word used to the group.
Words matter and the spaces we use them in matter.
So, BRIDGE is calling Jargon Giraffe on ourselves: In the effort to create a more inclusive, more inviting space for all folks to engage in our work, we are creating a running glossary of terms on our site and in our training manuals.
Are we missing something? Toss up your virtual Jargon Giraffe here and let us know what to add to the glossary.
