Speaking fluent human

One sign that standards of public communication are low is the delight we feel when a public figure says something with insight briefly and clearly. Too often, our ears glaze over under the wash of drivel and dross, our eyes fail to see the vision because the speaker hasn’t made their message clear.

Unmask your message.

Unclear thinking is bad for communication. Unfortunately well-established, poor communicators legitimise bad communication. Poor communication in high places is copied by less experienced communicators who think that what they hear and see is ‘best practice.’ It usually isn’t.

It’s easy to see that the most experienced communicators are not always the best communicators. A British Labour MP recently said that his boss, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, needs to learn ‘fluent human’ if he wants to connect with voters. No doubt Brown is intelligent, experienced and politically savvy, but those things do not necessarily make for great communication. An Adelaide-based English professor writing in The Australian accused Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of speaking bureaucratese and diplo-babble. Rudd can communicate well, but like most of us, he doesn’t always do so.

It’s easy for speakers to justify themselves with excuses: ‘This is a highly regulated/sensitive/specialised/ complex field,’ or ‘I was speaking only in the context of such and such a forum.’ In other words, ‘My content is above or beyond simplification’ or ‘In this context, it’s acceptable to speak incomprehensibly.’ Rubbish. Be as complicated as you like within very limited professional circles, but not in public (and by extension not in the media).

So what to do? Here’s a short list of ways to add zip and sparkle to your language (written and spoken):

1. Cut out unnecessary words
2. Use simple words
3. Use short words
4. Avoid or explain technical words
5. Let verbs be verbs, don’t turn them into nouns
6. Use fewer abstract nouns and more concrete nouns (i.e. words that create pictures)
7. Avoid double and triple negatives (e.g. “I could not fail to disagree with you less.”)
8. Link your thoughts so others can more easily follow
9. Cut out the jargon
10. Avoid ambiguity (repeat nouns rather than use too many pronouns)
11. Use the active voice (e.g. ‘the dog sat on the mat’ rather than ‘the mat was sat on by the dog’)
12. Emphasise the positive aspects and people will want to keep reading. Negative phrasing can seem bossy and hostile. Negative words may give you an unintended headline if you’re speaking to the media.
13. Cut unnecessary preambles
14. Kill or define initialisms (not to mention calling initialisms acronyms)

Hiding behind a lack of (presenting or other) education is not good enough. If you’re an adult and have access to the Internet, you can access and learn from the best resources in the world.

Do you use too many buzzwords? Britain’s Campaign for Plain English offers a simple remedy: Write down the top ten buzzwords or phrases you use and come up with a plain English alternative list.

In private and informal conversations, speaking conversationally includes hesitant starts, unplanned repetition, half thoughts, trailing off, expletives, not quite saying what you mean, and so on. That’s all fine in private, but disastrous in the media and in public.

The start to speaking powerfully is to speak clearly. Politicians who focus as much on speaking plainly as much as they do on speaking politically, will win more votes. Businesses that shorten and tighten up their written communication will increase efficiencies and sell more products. Lawyers who write in plain English help people engage more effectively in legal action and processes.

Poor communication certainly costs. It adds to cynicism and lack of trust. Is there hard evidence that clear communication can make a positive difference? Back to the Campaign for Plain English, for a single example. The campaign helped British Aerospace redraft and cut a 150-page international leasing agreement down to 50 pages. The result: shortened timeframe to close a ₤120 million deal by several months.