Plain words win

Simple words and short sentences get understood and acted on, and they make you look smarter, not less.

Needless complexity backfires

Across five experiments, a psychologist at Princeton found that readers rated authors as more intelligent when the same ideas were written in simpler language. Needlessly complex writing lowered readers' opinion of both the text and its author. The point is needless: a precise technical word is fine; "utilise" for "us…

Plain language changes what people do

When legally required truancy letters to the families of 130,000 California students were rewritten from a 10th-grade to a fifth-grade reading level, made shorter and less punitive, they were an estimated 40% more effective at reducing absences in the following month. The same researchers note that over 40% of US adul…

The U.S. government's own rules

The federal Plain Language guidelines put it into practice:

A quick test

Read your message aloud. Anything you wouldn't say to someone across a table, rewrite.

The short version

Needlessly long words lower readers' opinion of you.Plain language changes behaviour, not just comprehension.Active voice, real verbs, short words, present tense.If you wouldn't say it aloud, rewrite it.

Try it in Kanvo

Ask Kanvo's assistant to "rewrite this in plain English, keep my meaning" on a draft, then compare. Keep what's clearer; keep your own words where they're better.

Sources

Across five experiments, readers rated authors who wrote more simply as more intelligent; needless complexity lowered evaluations of the text and its author.