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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In a recent business writing training, Bud, the tech-genius company founder, seethed at the end of the conference table. He’d been roped into the training by colleagues who were sick of getting incomprehensible emails from him. When the CEO brought me in to work with the team, he told me, “Nobody knows what the heck Bud is talking about!”

No business person can afford to be misunderstood. Communication is essential to your success if you want to widen your circle of business contacts, strengthen your relationships or deal with customers. And communication takes place when the reader or listener understands your message.

Reviewing Bud’s emails to colleagues made it apparent that he loved to flood readers with technical details even if the minutia didn’t answer the readers’ questions. Shooting off technical fireworks seemed more important to him than making himself understood.

Then I asked his teammates a riveting question: “When you receive an email that contains technical information you don’t understand, what do you do?” One by one, they replied:

“I tune out.”

“I delete it.”

“I lose interest.”

The group included his head of sales, his customer service manager, the CEO and his head of operations. They may have been attempting to understand Bud’s messages, but he wasn’t getting through to them. When he heard the results of his communication style directly from them, his face fell.

At that moment, Bud became teachable.

What did I teach Bud and his colleagues that helped them make themselves understood?

Intend to Communicate.

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and realized that they weren’t really talking to you? Instead, they were talking to themselves in your presence. Not a very satisfying experience, was it? The same happens in writing–writers flood a page or computer screen with words but do not consciously intend to touch their readers. It may sound woo-woo, but your readers can feel it when you do not focus your intentions on them.

The more finely you hone your intentions, the more likely you will be understood. A great way to do this is to ask yourself what result you want your message to produce. Do you want the reader to receive information? To do something? To act or think differently? By following the advice in Stephen Covey’s classic book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, “Begin with the end in mind,” you will learn to harness the power of intention.

Don’t over-inform.

Readers tune out excess information. Be like the CIA: Only tell people what they need to know to do their job. Top executives might need to know the big picture–but it’s unlikely they will need the details, too. So limit yourself to what’s necessary.

Particularly when a writer knows a lot, the impulse to bless the reader with a wealth of data is intense. But most people are only interested in information when it relates directly to their needs and interests. In Bud’s case, he responded to simple requests with a flood of technical details that didn’t resolve questions. The result was that people tuned him out.

Focus on being clear, not smart.

If you truly want to sound smart, be clear. When readers feel that a writer is trying to blind them with his brilliance, they are unimpressed. Moreover, employing terminology, ideas and syntax that people don’t comprehend makes readers feel stupid. No one responds well to that!

If your reader doesn’t understand you, you might as well have been watching Netflix instead of writing. To enable your readers to grasp your message, speak their language, write shorter sentences, use familiar words and provide the critical information that will show why your message matters.

Keep your messages as simple as possible without becoming simplistic.

Refining your communication skills means more than figuring out how to avoid dangling participles. The key to touching your readers’ hearts and minds is to give them the knowledge they want and need in language they can understand. Concentrate on how you want your reader to respond to you.

At the end of our writing training series, Bud’s demeanor had changed from defensive resistance to reflective engagement. He was excited about his new skills, and his team was hopeful that his data-drenched, roundabout emails were a thing of the past.

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