Plain English

If we use long words, and complex terminology, we’ll look smarter. Our audience will be more convinced by what we’re saying. They’ll want to hear more.?Right?

Wrong.

Although it might seem logical that complex language would convey authority and intelligence, the exact opposite is true. In fact, audiences of all educational levels prefer a message that is delivered in clear, easy-to-understand language.

It’s called Plain English. Numerous research studies over decades have backed up the power of Plain English when it comes to getting a message across.

• Readers of all educational levels find Plain English easier to understand.
• Shorter sentences generate greater trust.
• When people read plain English, they perceive the writer to be more knowledgeable.

The better the audience understands our message, the smarter they think we are. If we communicate in a way that they comprehend, we increase our credibility.

This is backed up by extensive research:

In one study, researchers gave two pieces of writing to over 1500 scientists from industry and academia. The two pieces contained the same facts, in the same sequence, and used the same technical terms. The difference was in the non-technical language.

The first piece used short sentences and everyday words. The second did the opposite, mimicking the style of a typical scientific discussion paper.

The readers showed a marked preference for the Plain English (first) version: 70% found it more stimulating and interesting. 75% thought the writer of that piece was a more competent scientist, and had a more organised mind.

Do you communicate in plain English? Here’s some guidelines to use to check your next piece of communication:

• Use short sentences - 15-20 words as an average is a good target. Cut long sentences into two or three shorter ones where necessary.
• Avoid long paragraphs - again, break them up, and consider sub-headers.??
• Don't use?words with multiple syllables or very long words.
• Take?out words that don’t add to the meaning.
• Explain technical terms and acronyms the first time they are used.
• Convert list sentences to bullets.
• Check reading ease (you can do this in Word). There are two scales:
• The Flesch scale measures reading ease, with a higher score being easier. 60-80 is a good target.?
• The Flesch-Kincaid grade level, indicates the school grade reading level of?your content. The lower the easier. A level 8 is understood by most people and the Government recommends level 5 for information presented to the public.

You can check your readability statistics in Microsoft Word - here’s the score for what you have just read:

To finish with an example, here’s one of my personal favourites, from an Australian Government website. They show how 18 words can be reduced to 8 with no loss of meaning, and greater clarity:?

‘If you require any further clarification or explanation, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone’?should be replaced, they suggest, with ‘If you have any questions, please call us.’