The Difference Between Simple and Clear Messages

And why your audience notices the difference.

Writing simply is standard writing advice. I learned it in journalism school.

You may have learned it in your first communications role. Or from your first editor, or in that work style guide gathering dust on your desk.

But somewhere along the way, we shaped our writing to fit the modern appetite for speed. And in our rush to make things shorter and cleaner, we started trimming not just words, but their meaning.

And in the process, guess what? We’ve sacrificed something far more important. Understanding. Comprehension. Context. Depth.

How on earth did this happen, you ask? This is my observation from years of communications experience in the workplace:

we mistook simplicity for clarity.