your QBR KPIs need an FAQ

Acronyms are real space savers. Can you imagine having to write out “The United States of America” instead of simply “USA” every time you wanted to refer to it? The labels in our graphs alone would become overwhelming and unwieldy.

In business, though, it seems that acronyms, lingo, and other shorthand creep insidiously into every communication. Invariably, someone in your audience will be unfamiliar with one or more terms that you thought were universally understood. 

For instance, check out the performance scorecard below. Without any additional context, imagine how it would feel to be in a meeting and see this slide on the screen.

To the person who created this slide, every title, graph, and annotation makes perfect sense. A subset of the audience will understand it as well, though it may require a bit of effort. The remainder of the audience will likely feel like you do right now: overwhelmed, confused, or even annoyed at being asked to do so much cognitive work.

Without counting, how many different acronyms or abbreviations do you think there are in that scorecard? Ten? Fifteen? More?

The answer is 30. Thirty different acronyms on a single slide! Even accounting for some commonly used ones like USB or YTD, there are still two dozen that remain. Some of those are out-and-out misleading, to boot. The scorecard’s three main columns are entitled PRO, CONS, and REC. Usually, you expect pros and cons to represent opposing sides of an argument, but here, they are just abbreviations for PRObability and CONSequence. 

If you’re using an acronym in a communication, spell it out the first time it appears—even if you’re pretty sure everyone in the room knows what it means. 

There’s no guarantee that this graph, slide, or presentation won’t end up in front of a different audience later—or that a new employee in the room will be familiar with all the acronyms and lingo. The worst case scenario of being overly clear in text is that everyone will know what you’re talking about.

On the other hand, if you are referring to the same program across multiple slides, you can use the acronym after the first mention. Ultimately, it depends on whether saving space is worth it, especially if future slide or graph titles are longer.

At the end of the day, the goal isn’t to impress with insider language—it’s to make sure your message lands. When we default to clear, accessible terms, we reduce the cognitive load and make it easier for everyone to engage with the content. That’s not just a kindness; it’s a strategic move. So whether you’re building a scorecard, writing a chart title, or drafting a report, pause and ask yourself: Will this be clear to someone seeing it for the first time? If the answer’s no, take the extra moment to spell it out. Your future self—and your future readers—will thank you.

If you found this helpful, there’s more where that came from. Our upcoming book, storytelling with data: before and after – practical makeovers for powerful data stories, is packed with real-world examples, step-by-step redesigns, and smart strategies just like this. It’s available now for preorder and will be published this fall—we can’t wait to share it with you!