The Power of Saying Things Simply

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

I recently found myself at a nonprofit fundraising event where the founder gave an impassioned speech about the organization’s mission, vision, and purpose. For more than 15 minutes, I heard a word salad of repetitive phrases, overly demonstrative adjectives, and pithy, staccato sentences. At one point, the woman next to me leaned over and whispered what I was already thinking, “this is so obviously a ChatGPT speech.”

Each of us has likely struggled to write a speech, proposal, or info sheet that makes our work seem vital and worthy of attention. In our quest to make our points seem weighty, we can inadvertently overexplain our ideas or muddle the concept, leaving the audience confused.

If you truly want to connect with folks and get your point across, take the advice that my grandparents, parents, and even my high school debate team coach used to give me, Keep it Simple, Stupid (KISS).

Using jargon, unnecessary large words, or overly descriptive language doesn’t make you look smart. It just gives others a reason to disconnect, ignore, or avoid you. Complicated language frequently backfires and creates a barrier between you and the intended recipient, making it harder for people to understand what you’re saying and, ultimately, harder for them to believe in you.

Some concepts are incredibly complex and require a detailed explanation. But if scientists can figure out how to explain quantum physics, neural networks, and rocket science to small children, then all of us can take a step back and learn to create more approachable language.

(Side note: while the books are designed for little kids, I love them for people of all ages!)

What you risk by not being clear

In this recent piece in the Chronicle of Philanthropy “Word Jumble: When Nonprofits Talk Fancy, America Tunes Out,” Matt Watkins shares how nonprofits need to start communicating in a more grounded, intentional manner or risk their ability to stay in business.

“The nonprofit sector’s language has become increasingly coded, more abstract and – ironically – less meaningful. Phrases such as ‘inclusive infrastructure,’ ‘equity in multisectoral collaboration,’ and ‘systemic resilience’ are so common, they often pass without notice. But to the people the field claims to serve, they sound like what they are: carefully calibrated, institutionally safe, and completely disconnected from everyday life. Amid heightened public distrust of institutions, rising inequality, and growing hostility to nonprofits, such communication isn’t just ineffective. It’s dangerous.”

Taking it a step further, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear recently appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers and shared a similar caution to his fellow politicians while explaining what makes him a beloved Democratic Governor in a firmly Republican state.

“Let’s start talking like normal human beings again. Not talking at people, but talking to people. We’ve let these terms like ‘substance use disorder’ or ‘food insecurity’ become a part of our lingo that you wouldn’t use in talking with your friend. In other words, if I was going to talk about the damage of that big ugly bill, if I tell you more seniors or more children are gonna be food insecure, that’s not gonna have an impact. But if I tell you they’re going to be hungry when they go to bed at night or wake up in the morning…”

Beware of “shortcut language”

Most organizations and groups develop their own communication styles and, over time, create shortcuts to express themselves. I once worked for an organization that had a centralized acronym database to help new employees understand what their colleagues were saying in meetings. While some companies actively encourage this type of “insider” language as a way of forming cohesive teams, the reality is that this type of communication can lead to division and confusion.

In this 2017 article in the Association for Psychological Science, the authors present a full scientific analysis on the ways that abbreviations hamper scientific communication and alienate audiences, leading to dangerous misunderstandings and even feelings of ostracism.

“Abbreviations are all too common in scientific communication and are mostly unnecessary; this is reason enough for conscientious writers to avoid them. In many cases, they can confuse and alienate unfamiliar audiences, and even well-intentioned writers and speakers may overestimate an audience’s familiarity with abbreviations. Abbreviations shouldn’t be completely avoided, but using them as a default can be problematic. Mindful writers will notice that most abbreviations are unnecessary and will choose to replace them with the meaningful words that underlie them.”

Bottom line: jargon, abbreviations, and acronyms are generally exclusionary and signal that some people are “in the know” while others are “in the dark.” This is a surefire way to alienate at least a segment of your audience.

Tread cautiously with ChatGPT

Don’t get me wrong, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Model (LLM) tools can be extremely useful to help expand your thinking and edit your words. But like an intern or inexperienced employee, ChatGPT needs more than one round of revision – and even then, it still might not get it right.

This recent Times Higher Education article shares the findings of a study conducted by the University of Tübingen and Northwestern University where they analyzed more than 15 million biomedical abstracts and compared their results from before and after ChatGPT was introduced in 2022.

“ChatGPT has had an ‘unprecedented’ impact on scientific writing, leading to a marked increase in ‘flowery’ language....With a risk that LLMs make academic papers less diverse and less novel than human-written text, the researchers warned that such homogenisation may degrade the quality of scientific writing.”

So how are you going to simplify your own language to help others connect to your ideas? I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to join the conversation on Substack or drop us a line at hello@theconnectors.net.