Easy-to-process things feel truer, safer, and more appealing.
More quotesNobody who has actually been shot says, “I am currently experiencing an adverse ballistic event.”
Urgency has a wonderful editing function. It removes the phrases designed to make the speaker look professional and leaves the words needed by the listener. Business writing usually operates without that pressure, so “close account” becomes “initiate account deactivation process” and “work together” develops a severe case of cross-functional synergy.
The defence is always complexity. The subject is nuanced. Stakeholders require context. Legal may have thoughts. Sometimes that is true. Often the long language is body armour for a weak idea: if nobody can repeat the claim, nobody can easily challenge it. The writer feels protected; the reader gets invoiced for translation. The grand vocabulary turns a straightforward claim into a rented maze, then congratulates itself on sophistication.
I would start with the sentence we would use if the matter were urgent and there were no time to impress anybody. Then add the precision that changes meaning, the caveat that prevents error and the evidence that earns belief. Not one ceremonial word more. Simple is not the same as simplistic. Simple is complexity that has been made useful. Jargon is often complexity that has been made employable.