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Annoying Corporate Buzzwords to Ban from Your PowerPoint Presentations 

This post will help you future-proof your presentations and other communications in the workplace, ensuring cross-functional alignment and delivering actionable insights that truly move the needle. 

Sounds boring, right? That’s because the above sentence is filled with annoying corporate buzzwords that only exist at work. Seriously, nobody actually talks like that in real life, but for whatever reason, this kind of jargon pops up in the office and on Zoom calls all the time. 

How to Stop Saying “Um” When Presenting (Without Using Buzzwords) 

Often times, people use this kind of corporate lingo because they’re not sure what else to say. It’s used as filler words or to help explain things that you might struggle finding the words for. 

You might think an effective way to stop saying “um” during your presentation is to go with some of these tried-and-true buzzwords, like the following: 

  • Move the needle 
  • Synergy
  • Pivot 
  • Circle back 
  • Granular 
  • Growth hacking 
  • Quick win 
  • Scalability 

If you like to fill those moments when you’re not sure what to say with words and phrases like these, then you’re doing things wrong. You should immediately ban these from any future presentations or communications. Most of the people you work with don’t want to hear them, and you probably don’t actually want to say them either. Instead, use these tips. 

Prepare Your Words Ahead of Time 

If you’re not the greatest public speaker, you’re not alone. Thankfully, there are tools that can help you not only include more variety in your slide text but also in the words you speak. Our ChatGPT for PowerPoint add-in does both, helping you refine your PowerPoint text and creating speaker notes to help you when you present it. 

speaker notes automatically generated for a slide about the benefits of kanban
Try it free

Pause and Say What You Mean 

Whenever you’re tempted to say “um” or some sort of buzzword that you don’t want to use, just pause. It may feel uncomfortable but regular pauses sound more natural than you might think. So, take a moment to think about what you’re trying to say before you say it. 

Focus on the Message, Not the Words 

Unless you’re worried about cussing in the office, don’t worry about the words you’re going to use. Focus on the message. When you start thinking too much about the exact words or trying to sound a certain way, it’s easy for some of those filler words or phrases to pop in. 

[Read more: The Best Ways to Use AI at Work] 

Annoying Corporate Buzzwords 2025 

Of course, buzzwords are always shifting. Old ones get retired and new ones take their place. Don’t fall for it. The new ones will very quickly become just as annoying as the old ones. Here are some of those corporate buzzwords that are starting to hold hostage people’s creative speech in 2025: 

“In my wheelhouse”: Used to describe one’s expertise in an area 

“Look under the hood”: Analyze something in more detail 

“In the weeds”: Dramatic way of saying you’re confused or extra busy 

“AI”: Yeah, even though we make AI-powered add-ins for PowerPoint, Excel and Word, we can’t deny this term shows up sooo much and is often misused 

“Take this offline”: When your work is 90% online anyway, what does this even mean? 

“Hyperautomation”: Often used to describe automation that uses AI or machine learning, but is a new term really necessary? 

“Reskilling”: Learning something new (usually outside your job description) or doing training on something you already know 

Now that we have a list in place, let’s all commit to talking like normal humans at work instead of corporate robots.