The unexpected upside of plain English

Back in the 1970s, an Australian insurance company did something radical.

They rewrote their car insurance policy so ordinary humans could actually understand it.

The replaced all the verbal gymnastics and stodgy lawyerese with simple words and sentences.

Some lawyers crowed publicly, confidently predicting a flood of claims and disputes. Ker-ching!

Except that’s actually not what happened.

Customers finally understood what they were covered for, so invalid claims dropped. And staff stopped spending half their days translating policies, so processes sped up.

But the biggest benefit was a reduction in overall lawsuits*. (The lawyers wept into their briefcases.)

It turns out clarity actually meant better business, and the same is true today.

Yet I see this resistance everywhere. We panic at the thought of cutting the waffle and laying our meaning bare. Why?

Because it feels a bit like the first day back in swimwear after a long winter. Vulnerable. Exposing. Slightly terrifying. As author Shane Parrish puts it so brilliantly:

‘Clear writing gives poor thinking nowhere to hide.’

Simple precise words expose gaps in thinking and where we bluster to avoid the fact that we a) don’t really know what we’re asking for b) what we want to happen next or c) why it’s important.

Plain language forces you to be clear on your point, your ask and your reasoning.

And this isn’t just about retiring museum words like ‘aforementioned’ and ‘thereafter’. It’s also about spotting everyday ‘business words’ that clog meaning like grease in a u-bend. The best lawyers today agree.

So try this simple swap:

• Buy, not purchase

• People, not persons

• Show, not demonstrate

• Use, not utilise

• Expect, not anticipate (See the Plain English Campaign’s full list here)

Every swap sharpens thinking, improves flow and increases your chances of getting the outcome you want.

And of course, if we can help your team cut the waffle and amp up their impact, do hit reply to get in touch.