We're Jamming!

I’ve mentioned before that I love a good acronym. The best ones are useful, clever, elegant, fun to decode and very often just sound pleasant too. 

SCUBA is a good one. You may already know that it stands for ‘self contained underwater breathing apparatus’.

Tuba is also an acronym. It stands for ‘terrible underwater breathing apparatus’ which is useful to know, right?

Down Under

Well, I heard a new one the other day. My brilliant video editor (yes it’s happening!) lives in Australia and I was asking his opinion about a particular video I’d made.

As you know I put a lot of myself into my blogs and training. Doing so can provide a connection, make things real and to be honest is easier for me because I’m describing something I really know about.

There is a fine line, however, between using personal experience to illuminate an idea and simply talking about yourself for no discernible purpose. 

Or even worse, sharing an experience that you think is useful, funny or entertaining but others might view as conceited, big headed or arrogant. I sail close to the wind at times I know.

That’s what I was asking my video editor about. Was there too much of ‘me’ in this particular video? Had the balance tipped too far?

I was heartened by his reassuring reply “the video just struck me as interesting anecdotal framing.”

And then he added “I didn't get a FIGJAM vibe from it at all.”

I sat looking at the screen. Okay, I was stumped. I stared at this phrase for a few minutes trying to work it out. 

I Would Die 4 U

I mean, I’ve got teenage daughters so I’m well practised in deciphering text speak. It's like talking to Prince. My WhatsApp is full of cu l8r, wth, ttyl, ikr, and cba rn, most of which I think I’ve decoded.

But FIGJAM had me beat. I fired up Chrome.

In just 0.34 seconds Mr Google had found 212,000 results, the first of which put me out of my misery.

Figjam/ (ˈfɪɡˌdʒæm) / noun. Australian slang a very conceited person

F**k , I’m Good. Just Ask Me.

Apparently it is used by many Australians as a sign of triumph after completing a task, winning an award or just as a joke.

Bob: "Ahhh, finished tiling that roof at last..."

Alan: "Yeah, FIGJAM!"

That made sense. I could relax.

That was last Saturday.

I Drink Wine

The following Monday night I went to a wine tasting with a friend. Yes, on a Monday, ikr! The event was hosted in the spectacular Great Hall in the very grand Institute Of Civil Engineers. 

Forty three Spanish wines from a number of regions were available to try but trying all forty three would have been crazy. We were quite reserved trying possibly only forty two. 

We chatted while we tasted and among other things we talked about my mate’s old dog, Figgy, and the pet portrait my mum had done of him and whether he'd like another likeness painted of his latest mutt. 

We tasted some more wine. A bit later we were chatting randomly about acronyms (don’t judge me) and I proudly told him I'd learned a new one and had he heard of FIGJAM?

He stared at me as if I was stupid, "You're joking, right?"

"No, it's a new one to me."

"That's his real name."

"Whose real name?"

"Figgy's real name."

"Figgy, your old dog, Figgy?"

"FIGJAM was the actual name on his certificate. I called him Figgy for short."

It took me fifty and a half years to hear of this thing for the first time, then two days later there it is again. Every day’s a school day!

Word Up

My favourite way of using acronyms is to create my own as a heuristic device to encode lots of information into one short word.

I’ve got two main methods of using them. 

The first involves a bit of additional work which I’ll write more about another time but basically instead of trying to remember long numbers you encode the numbers into words. Remembering words is easier than remembering numbers. 

As you recall the easy to remember words you decode them back into the numbers and, hey presto, you have the numbers at your fingertips. Easily and accurately recalled with very little effort. Once you’ve learned the simple system that it is.

Okay, reading that back it sounds complicated but it’s not. In fact I’ll write about it for next week. (I feel like I’m talking to myself now.)

Could It Be Magic?

Anyway, the second way of using acronyms is this week’s Top Tip.

So let’s say you are going for an interview and you want to get across how astoundingly brilliant you are.

Of course you’re going to answer the interviewer’s questions but in doing so you want them to learn that you are:

• Incredibly Motivated
• An Assertive Character
• Goal Orientated
• Full of Initiative
• A Confident Communicator

Tucked up your sleeve you’ve got a few sentences you can wax freely on for each of these attributes. A line or two that illustrates you understand how important they are and how they apply to you.  

And of course for each of them you’ve got an memorable example that amply demonstrates exactly how good you are at them.

The acronym I would use to gather all of those ideas together is the single word MAGIC.

Motivated, Assertive, Goals, Initiative, Confidence. Or Communication, whichever you want to focus on.

And that’s the point, you get to choose. You can make up your very own personalised easy to remember acronym about your best attributes.

In the interview you can seamlessly move through the letters of your word and share your brilliance at will. You’ll never be lost for words or stumbling in a panic, trying to remember what it is you wanted to get across.

Ready Or Not

When I’m prepping clients for interview success we use this tactic. We hone in on the attributes they want to get across, carefully select a few that we can back up with examples and understanding. 

And then we make an acronym out of them.

It’s very simple to do and can really help you out when the nerves are jangling and your mind goes blank. You only have to remember one word, select one letter from that word and bingo, you’re back in the room!

You don’t even have to go through the letters in order. You’re the only one who knows the magic word so you can take from it in any sequence you like.

They’ll be impressed with you for getting so much across and you’ll feel relaxed because you know you’ve communicated what you wanted to tell them. That you’re great! You can quite rightly lay claim to a spot of Fig Jam!

Have fun this weekend, creating an acronym that best describes your favourite skills or attributes or competencies. 

And then see how easy it is to roll through the word, masterfully sharing your brilliance as you see fit. Figjam!