“Never use a long word where a short one will do."
- George Orwell

Clarity will always beat complexity. It's a lesson George Orwell understood decades ago - and it's still relevant today.

One of the biggest mistakes I see business owners make has nothing to do with marketing, social media or PR.

It's trying too hard to sound impressive.

Somewhere along the way, many of us start believing that credibility comes from using bigger words, longer sentences and industry jargon. We swap plain English for corporate language because we think it sounds more professional. Ironically, it usually has the opposite effect.

After more than 30 years working as a journalist, I've learnt that the people who leave the biggest impression are rarely the ones trying hardest to sound clever. They're the ones who make something complicated feel simple.

Simple is best

During my years in television, I interviewed people from all walks of life.

Many were experts in their field, but like most experts, they were so close to their subject that they often used language that made perfect sense to them but not necessarily to everyone watching at home.

Part of my job was to ask the right questions, cut through the jargon and help them explain complex subjects in a way that everyone could understand.

Because when people understand something, they're far more likely to remember it..... and talk about it.

Whether you're speaking on a stage, recording a podcast, writing a LinkedIn post or talking to a journalist, your job isn't to impress people with what you know. It's to help them understand why it matters.

We overcomplicate because we care

Most business owners don't make their message complicated on purpose. In fact, it's usually the opposite. They care deeply about their work. They want to sound credible, professional, experienced. So they edit. Then edit again. They replace everyday words with business jargon. They add phrases they'd never use in conversation - and before long, they've created something that sounds polished.....but no longer sounds like them.

The test I still use today

There's a question I often ask myself before I publish anything. Would people actually talk about this in the pub? Not because I expect them to repeat every word I've written. But because if an idea is interesting enough, useful enough or surprising enough, it becomes something people naturally share. Think about the conversations you've overheard.

Nobody says, "I was really impressed by their innovative customer-centric solutions."

They say, "You'll never guess what happened....."

Or..... "I heard something really interesting today."

Stories travel. Jargon doesn't.

Show me. Don't tell me.

This is something I encourage every client to think about.

Instead of telling people you're passionate..... Show me why you care.

Instead of saying you're innovative..... Tell me about the problem you solved.

Instead of describing yourself as award-winning..... Tell me what happened that led to the award. Stories are evidence. Adjectives are opinions. And evidence is always more powerful.

Try this yourself

Open your website or your LinkedIn profile. Find one paragraph that describes what you do. Now imagine you're explaining exactly the same thing to someone over a coffee. Or to a friend who asks, "So..... what is it you actually do?"

Would you use the same words? If the answer is no, rewrite it.

Not to make it shorter. Not to make it cleverer. Simply to make it sound more like you. Because that's the voice people connect with.

What people remember

One of my favourite compliments isn't: "That was clever." It's: "That makes so much sense." Because that's what good communication does. It doesn't leave people feeling impressed. It leaves them feeling confident.

Confident that they understand.

Confident that they trust you.

Confident enough to remember you when someone asks for a recommendation.

And in business, that's far more valuable than sounding impressive.

So the next time you're writing a post or a press release, updating your website, preparing for an interview or explaining your expertise, ask yourself one simple question.

Am I trying to sound impressive or am I trying to be interesting?

Because the people and businesses we remember aren't always the loudest. They're the ones who make us stop, think and say:

"I've never looked at it like that before."

Or...

"Now I understand. I always wondered what that meant."

If this has made you rethink the way you communicate your expertise, you might be sitting on more stories than you realise.

The challenge is often not having something worth saying.

It’s knowing which moments matter, how to shape them into a story and how to share them in a way that makes people stop and listen.

That’s exactly what I help my clients do.

If you’d like to explore how you can become more visible, credible and memorable, you can DM on LinkedIn

or on Instagram.