Simplify storytelling
As communicators at a world-class university, we’re often called upon to explain complex ideas and achievements. This complexity makes it doubly important that we make it easier to understand the issues at hand.
One way to do that is to simplify, simplify, simplify. Use straightforward sentences and language that is easily understood rather than forcing readers to wade through a giant wall of text filled with confusing jargon. This advice is useful in most contexts, but especially for writers who are at risk of losing a broad audience while writing about dense subject matter.
It’s worth noting that there are times when we’re communicating to a narrow audience and complex writing is both expected and appropriate. But in general, we should abide by advice credited to one of the great orators and speechwriters in U.S. history, Abraham Lincoln: “Speak so that the most lowly can understand you, and the rest will have no difficulty.”
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