Simple Writing Leads to Effective Communicating

Over the last week, I've been thinking a lot about simple organization to create effective communication, and today I want to take a little break.

In my mind's-ear (we have those, right?), I can hear readers asking:

"Why would I ever use a simple organizational method like the 5-paragraph writing technique? Simple writing doesn't impress people! Complex things do!"

It's true that complicated things will impress people, but when it comes to trying to get your point across, goal number one is to be easily understood. The best way to get our point across is to organize our thoughts logically and simply.

Not so in school. In school, we're taught the finer points of writing. We learn the myriad of ways to use commas to make sentences more and more complicated. And then we're graded by academics, who reward you for mastering the language. All in all, we learn that complicated writing equals smart writing.

What we fail to learn is that complicated writing does not equal effective communicating.

The difference between effective writing and effective communicating is audience.


The goal of quality communication is to be understood by your audience. When you are focusing on complex writing, you may be able to show off your mastery in the complicated art of language, but if your audience doesn't understand your message, it's bad communication.

I’m all for aspirations to improve the writing quality and reading comprehension of all Americans. But as it stands, the average American reads at a 9th grade level. This means “quality” writing does not beget quality communication for the average audience.

When your goal is to get your point across, communicating simply is the best way to do it.

If you want to "sounding smart," you won't do it by using complicated writing and language; you'll sound smart by sharing insightful ideas.