Complex language vs credible intelligence

In the book “ Thinking, Fast and Slow “, author Daniel Kahneman offers this nugget of wisdom:

If you care about being thought credible and intelligent, do not use complex language where simpler language will do.

It seems almost counter-intuitive, but we’ve all seen it before. More often than not, when someone is spouting a bunch of “ten-dollar words”, they know the words but can’t speak much beyond them.

If you can indeed speak deeper into those words, you still might have a problem if people can’t understand what you’re saying, because they then won’t be able to appreciate your insights.

I think this is a reason that people like Seth Godin are so well-respected. He posts daily about incredibly insightful topics, but he writes in a way that everyone can understand the point he’s trying to make.

Maybe Kevin from the office was right when he said “ why say lot word when few word do trick? “ 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K-L9uhsBLM

Originally published at https://www.mickmel.com on November 10, 2020.