When a major tech company announced its “workforce optimization initiative” last year, employees had to wade through three paragraphs of corporate language before understanding the simple truth: Layoffs were coming.

This kind of obscure writing, which writer George Orwell critiqued in his landmark 1946 essay, “Politics and the English Language” leads to costly misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and lost productivity in businesses. Perhaps more importantly, using euphemisms, corporate-speak, and vague language can lead both employees and customers to distrust your words.

Orwell, known for novels such as “1984” and “Animal Farm,” analyzed in his essay how language was being used to hide uncomfortable realities from the public. His insights resonate powerfully today when political language still obscures truth. For example, “alternative facts” replace “lies,” and “election integrity measures” can mask voting restrictions. In business, where ”workforce optimization” softens the impact of layoffs and “revenue enhancement” replaces “price increase.” When language becomes corrupted, Orwell argued, clear thinking becomes impossible, a warning that matters especially in business communication. From earnings reports to internal memos, corporate communication often prioritizes style over substance, and vagueness over clarity.

If you have read a corporate report recently, you probably know what kind of writing Orwell was describing. The same problems he identified in political writing plague business communication: overused metaphors, pretentious language, excessive jargon, and writing that conceals rather than reveals meaning.

Dying Metaphors

Metaphors compare one thing to another to make a point. A fresh metaphor works because it creates a vivid mental picture that illuminates meaning. But when a metaphor is used thousands of times, it loses this power and becomes mere jargon. “Low-hanging fruit” has become a tired shorthand for quick wins. “Moving the needle” rarely makes anyone visualize an actual gauge anymore. Other deadened business metaphors include “raise the bar,” and “hit the ground running.” All signal lazy writing.

Pretentious Diction

Too many business writers labor under the false impression that using lots of long words makes them seem smarter and more professional. The opposite is true. Using “facilitate a discussion” instead of “lead a meeting,” “has the capability to” instead of ”can,” or “prior to the commencement of” instead of “before” makes your writing seem hard to read. Peppering your emails with unnecessarily complex phrases makes your readers skip over your message or dismiss it as too demanding to read. Writing clearly and succinctly gives others the sense that you are capable and bright.

Meaningless Words

Anyone who has worked in a corporation sees meaningless words every day. “Proceed with the implementation” replaces “begin”; “notwithstanding the foregoing” replaces “however.” “Downsizing” replaces “layoffs.” These obfuscations slow readers down and confuse them through their vagueness.

These habits are so common that one wonders how people feel they benefit from using them. Perhaps they fear that others will be upset by their message — but readers will be more upset when they have to wade through vague verbiage to figure out what you mean. It’s helpful to turn to Orwell for wisdom. “What is above all needed,” he writes, “is to let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way about.”

His six rules for writers were:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech that you are used to seeing in print. In other words, avoid clichéd expressions like “think outside the box.”
2. Never use a long word when a short one will do. “Use” works better than “utilize.”
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. Instead of “at this point in time” write “now.”
4. Never use the passive voice where you can use the active. Write: “The team missed the deadline” rather than “The deadline was missed by the team.”
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. Replace “vis-a-vis” with “regarding,” “raison d’être” with “purpose,” or “quantum leap” with “big change.”
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Orwell warned that murky political language was designed to hide the truth. The same applies to business writing. When we strip away the fog of jargon and pretense and say what we mean, our words gain an air of authenticity and vigor —and our messages are clear.

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Many women are powerful communicators–clear, direct, and concise. Nevertheless, when training women business leaders to write, I see that they often sabotage themselves in business communication by apologizing, using indirect language, and over-informing. Men might do these things, too, but for the most part, men can retain their authority with these bad habits while they limit career advancement for women.

Gender bias remains a significant issue in business today. While society must do more to address this issue, women must ensure that they are not unconsciously falling into habits that make them seem less confident and competent. 

What leads a woman to undermine her message? Perhaps she lacks confidence in her ideas or wants to preempt criticism by disparaging herself first. A lifetime of socialization that tells women to be nice, not make waves, and please others can also impede a woman’s impulse to communicate clearly and directly. 

Whatever their reasons, these negative behaviors are habits–of word choice, phrasing, and sentence structure. Habits are learned and can be changed. 

Here are three unhelpful writing habits, along with suggestions for how women can change them.

1. Adopting an Apologetic Tone

PROBLEM: Hiding behind hedge words.

Words like just, actually, kind of, and you know make us seem small in our readers’ minds. Continually using apologetic language like “Sorry, I’m not an expert but” or “I may be wrong but” sucks the power from our language. Notice the difference between “I actually think we should just buy the new data-colocation system” and “I think we should buy the new data-colocation system.” Which sounds more confident? More credible? An overly conciliatory tone does us no good.

SOLUTION: Create an assertive, friendly, and respectful tone.

You can be assertive without seeming aggressive. State your ideas clearly and add a friendly phrase or word to maintain a warm tone. However, beware of hedge words that make you seem less confident than you are.

The secret is to allow our individualism to shine through without falling into self-limiting language. Using a few hedge words might be appropriate in one message yet ruin another. Awareness of the context and sensitivity to your reader should dictate your word choices.

2. TMI: Too Much Information

PROBLEM: In their efforts to be conscientious, women may end up with informational overkill, sharing the whole story when they need only to share a salient point. One woman in a writing workshop told the group, “I’m so afraid of leaving anything out that I end up writing too much.” Remember: Rambling writing leads to roaming readers.

SOLUTION: Know your main point before beginning to write, and make your point within the first 40 words of the document. Follow up with detail and backstory. Be like the CIA: Work on a “need to know” basis. If your reader does not require the information to do their job, omit it. Avoid the urge to prove your worth by telling the reader everything.

3. Indirect Sentence Structures

PROBLEM: Writing sentence structures that imply insecurity or self-doubt. 

Oblique phrasings like I wanted to, I would like to, I was wondering, and If you don’t mind deflect your message before you have delivered it. They squander your readers’ precious attention by distracting them from your main point.

SOLUTION: Craft powerful, concise sentences.

Rather than start with an indirect introduction, put your main idea forward. Notice the difference between “I just wanted to let you know that we submitted the proposal on time” and “We submitted the proposal on time.” Step up and say what you mean.

Also, eliminate perky punctuation. Use one exclamation point at a time and minimize emojis.

The Ultimate Solution: Be Yourself

The best way to eliminate all these habits is to be authentic. Rather than concealing your strength by nervously overinforming, cautiously phrasing, and over-conciliating, you can be yourself: intelligent, knowledgeable, and clear about your ideas. Slow down and skim what you write before you send it on; notice where the hedge words show up and edit them out. 

You might choose to temper your message with indirect language — but if you do so, make it a choice, not an unconscious habit. Remember: no one can be you in the way you can be yourself. 

The post How to Overcome 3 Self-Limiting Habits and Write Authentically appeared first on Worktalk.