Science is transforming marketing and communications, says Mandi Fine. What a pity then that the most basic communications skill of all — language — is so neglected. Fine is CEO of F/NE Group Global, an agency that made its name in healthcare communications, but has now also found a niche translating gibberish into English. Fine’s team "liberates" corporate and scientific jargon so it can be understood by ordinary people. As healthcare scientists are hired for their research and medical know-how, not language skills, there has always been a need for specialists to turn technical information into something intelligible for advertising campaigns. This means not only helping consumers understand products’ properties, but in-house staff too. "How many times have you met people who can recite official jargon about their companies’ products but can’t explain it in plain English?" Fine says: "If they are stumped, what hope does the customer have of understanding it?" It’s a problem not uni...

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