Why there’s no need to worry about dumbing down
The best writing is clear and simple.
But you might be thinking ‘If I make my writing simple, won't people think I'm stupid?’
Below is a transcript of the video, which is an extract from my online course, Proofread Like a Pro. You can enrol in the course now at the Doris and Bertie Writing School.
The best writing is clear and simple. But you might be thinking ‘Well hang on a minute, if I make my writing simple won’t my readers think I’m dumbing down? Isn’t there a risk they’ll think I’m stupid?’
And, of course, that's a natural concern because if you’re clever and competent - which I know you are - you want to appear that way.
But, actually, research has shown that using big words when you don’t need to actually makes you appear less intelligent.
And even if that weren’t the case, if you’re writing to persuade, a much more effective strategy is not to try to appear smart, but to make your reader feel smart.
If you can explain something fiendishly complex to someone so they understand it, they’re going to feel smart. And they’re going to love you for making them feel smart – which means they're much more open to persuasion.
Let's have a look at an example from a writer who’s trying too hard to impress.
‘Our mission is to leverage the expertise of our National Aeronautics talent in order to drive innovation in the delivery of world-class Aerospace Solutions.’
If you've been in the business world any longer than five minutes, I'm sure you'll be familiar with this kind of language. You may even have been tempted to write like this on occasion!
I don't know about you, but I find this kind of corp-speak really uninspiring. It's definitely trying too hard to impress with all that jargon!
The writer is trying to sound like a business insider by using words like ‘leverage’ and ‘innovation’ and ‘delivering world-class solutions.’ Words you’d never use outside the office.
One reason it's so uninspiring is it’s extremely abstract. It’s really hard to picture. For example, what does ‘leveraging expertise’ or ‘driving innovation’ actually mean? Can you picture what either of those look like? You might, but everyone’s picture will be different.
The writer doesn’t tell us what we, his audience, can do to ‘leverage expertise’. Or how we’d know if we’d been successful at it.
Let's look at how that message might have been written – in fact, how it was written.
In the actual words of John F. Kennedy:
‘I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.’
Now, JFK was a pretty smart guy. But there's not a single fancy word in this quote. He's not trying to impress because he has the confidence in his own intellect to keep things really simple, and really human.
The language is also really clear. There's absolutely no mistaking what the goal is, and how we'll know when we've achieved it. It’s concrete, pictureable and – excuse the pun! - down to earth.
And, of course, these words did persuade. They did inspire the public, politicians, and the clever boffins at NASA, to achieve this goal.
So, if you want to similarly inspire people towards a goal or a mission or a vision, don't try to impress them. Don’t try to appear clever. Instead, a good rule of thumb is to aim your work at an intelligent fourteen-year-old.
Someone who can follow an argument, but won't necessarily understand or enjoy jargon like ‘leverage’ or ‘solutions’.
Or, you could take your lead from another smart guy, the world famous investor Warren Buffet, who writes all his financial reports as if he were talking to his sisters, Doris and Bertie. Smart, intelligent women but not experts in finance.
This video and blog post are from my online course, Writing With Confidence, available at the Doris and Bertie Writing School.
