George Orwell's rules for writing

Bad business writing is rarely caused by weak vocabulary. It is caused by strong fear.

Fear of sounding simple.

Fear of naming who did what.

Fear that the ordinary product will look ordinary once “transformative solution capabilities” are removed.

So people utilise instead of use, facilitate instead of help and write “an error was introduced” because grammar can apparently cause damage without an employee being present.

Orwell’s rules attack these evasions. Short words, active verbs and fresh images force the claim into daylight. They are diagnostics, though, not commandments. A technical term may be exact. The passive can be useful when the actor genuinely does not matter. A familiar metaphor occasionally remains the clearest tool.

The sixth rule saves the first five from becoming a religion. Break any method before it makes the sentence barbarous.

Read once for meaning. What is actually being claimed? Who acted? Which concrete noun could replace the cloud of abstraction? Cut whatever asks the reader to admire importance instead of understand consequence.

Plain English sounds easy because the difficult thinking happened before the sentence arrived.

Then read aloud. Corporate sludge has a rhythm: every sentence lands with the same slow thud. The mouth notices fakery the eye has learned to forgive. If you run out of breath before reaching the verb, the reader has already gone for tea.