A Plea for defining initials in documents or presentations!
How often have we as consumers of information, either in print or as a visual aid to a presentation, come across a set of letters that the author of the information expects us to understand? If there is a definition of what the letters represent (either an acronym or abbreviation), I as a reader can move right along, because I understand what the letters represent. However, if the letters are new to me or if a series of letters may have different meanings, then I as the reader is often left to try to understand what you, the author, mean. This may either confuse the reader or leave them without the ability to follow the author’s points. Maybe the reader will look up the meaning of the acronym taking them away from the train of thought. Then they might not continue to understand all of what was being presented. The reader may also not be able to evaluate what was presented.
I would suggest two potential solutions, both of which involve defining the acronym or adjective. First if the object is only being referred to once, spell it out – don’t use the initials. Second, if the object is likely to be repeated, specify the meaning of the acronym the first time you use it. One example might help. I’m a cardiologist who occasionally comments on matters relating to medical organizations. If I use the acronym AHA do I mean “American Heart Association” or “American Hospital Association”? If I just use the acronym, my reader or listener might get confused. (Hopefully, I won’t want to use both in the same presentation 🙂 ).
Our job as an author or presenter should be to make things as easy as possible for the consumer of your information to follow. Please don’t leave initials hanging in a paper or a “slide”. Define them. Your reader or listener will appreciate you.
