Articulating ideas as simply as possible is attractive, not least because getting people to agree with us is attractive. But we have a tendency to overrate ideas that can be shared easily, with the most apparent advantages. By constant simplifying, we may be lulled into abridging our own ideas a little too much, and sooner or later our audience—or... See more

Consider a few basic, macroscopic rules that will take your word and phrase from drab to fab:

• Show, Don’t Tell: Use concrete examples and anecdotes to illustrate your points. I worked with X to design Y and Z which led to an uplift in $AM and B%” says a lot more than "I am a great designer.”


• Use Active Verbs : Active verbs make your writing flow

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High school taught me big words. College rewarded me for using big words. Then I graduated and realized that intelligent readers outside the classroom don’t want big words. They want complex ideas made simple.

Smart people respect simple language not because simple words are easy, but because expressing interesting ideas in small words takes a lot of work.

Be broad. Years ago I briefly wrote for the  Wall Street Journal , and an editor told me: “Your job is to write something that a hedge fund manager will find informative but a complete novice will understand.” It sounds lofty, but I think it’s possible in almost any field. Writing in clear language anyone can comprehend does not mean dumbing it

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