Does Business Vocabulary Make the Writer Seem More Intelligent?

Much business writing includes difficult or archaic business vocabulary and phrases people do not use in everyday speaking, such as “cognizant” instead of “aware,” “initiate” instead of “begin,” and “endeavor” instead of “try.” Some writers feel business writing with difficult or archaic words is more businesslike and shows the writer’s intelligence. Using common, everyday words feels to some writers like it’s dumbing down the writing and patronizing the reader.

However, research^* by Daniel M. Openheimer at Princeton University indicates the writers who use difficulty or archaic vocabulary may not be projecting the image of themselves they think they are projecting. Dr. Oppenheimer conducted experiments to see what readers thought about the writers of documents that included difficult or archaic vocabulary. He then rewrote the documents, replacing the difficult vocabulary with common, everyday words and asked readers what they thought about the writers of those simpler documents.

The readers more often felt the documents using common, easily understood vocabulary came from writers more intelligent than the writers of the documents containing difficult and archaic vocabulary. “Anything that makes a text hard to read and understand, such as unnecessarily long words or complicated fonts, will lower readers’ evaluations of the text and its author,” Oppenheimer wrote. “One thing seems certain: write as simply and plainly as possible and it’s more likely you’ll be thought of as intelligent.”

Common, everyday words are the most up-to-date words in the language. Languages change over time. Some business writers use vocabulary that has gone out of the spoken language decades or centuries ago. If you want readers to feel you are competent, intelligent, and committed to communicating with them, write using the words you would speak in a business meeting among colleagues.

That doesn’t mean you use informal, street words like “bugs him” for “bothers him” or “pad” for “home.” Business writing today is a medium for conveying to readers what you would speak to them if you were with them. You wouldn’t sit across a table from the reader and say, “We initiated the endeavor to ascertain where the pipe malfunctioned utilizing our video equipment, but subsequently were compelled to excavate the line.” The reader would think you had lost it. You would say “We began to try to locate the broken pipe using our video equipment, but ended up having to dig up the line.” Write like that.

Below are six tips to help you use business vocabulary that communicates most clearly to readers and may result in readers’ feeling you are more capable.

Business Vocabulary Tip 1:

Use common words.

As you edit your business writing, if you see business vocabulary you wouldn’t speak, change the vocabulary to common words you would use in a business meeting.

You likely will fall into using the difficult, archaic words in your business writing. We see so much of it coming from other business writers that it seems like it’s the only appropriate business vocabulary. When you’re editing your business writing in preparation for creating the final draft, if you see a word or phrase you wouldn’t say if you were sitting with the reader speaking the message, change the word or phrase to the simpler alternative.

Business Vocabulary Tip 2:

Use jargon vocabulary only when the reader uses the jargon commonly.

Jargon words are the business vocabulary specialists in a field use when writing about activities in the field. If you are talking to someone in finance, you’ll use finance jargon. Talk to someone in engineering and you’ll use engineering jargon. You both expect to see the specialized words you use in your field in your business writing.

However, don’t use jargon vocabulary with people who aren’t specialists in your field. Replace the jargon vocabulary with plain business vocabulary. Writing has two levels: a deep structure and a surface structure. The deep structure is the meaning you want to convey in your business writing. The surface structure is the vocabulary, phrases, and sentences you use to convey the meaning. If you want the reader to know your vendor has to know you need the display by Wednesday, the deep structure is the message, “We need the display by Wednesday.” The surface structure could be, “We need the display by Wednesday to finish the project” or it could be “Regarding the display, project completion necessitates acquisition of the display by EOD Wednesday” or it could be “We got to get our hands on the display to finish this gig by hump day.” All three of the sentences have the same deep structure, but very different surface structures. The version using simple everyday business vocabulary will communicate most clearly and give the reader the feeling you see him or her as a colleague. The version using difficult vocabulary will not communicate as clearly and will give the reader the feeling you see him or her as a stranger you are writing a form letter to. Of course, the very informal writing will give the reader the feeling you’re not taking the job or the reader seriously. However, it still conveys the same deep structure: your message.

Use the surface structure that communicates clearly. The reader will get the same message you might try to convey using difficult or archaic business vocabulary.

Business Vocabulary Tip 3:

Use common, everyday business vocabulary.

When you are writing to someone who is a specialist in your field, use common, everyday business vocabulary for the business writing that isn’t jargon.

When you write an email, memo, letter, report, or other business document to someone who is a specialist in your field, use the jargon vocabulary for your field, but for all other words, use common, everyday business vocabulary. The fact that you’re communicating with another expert in your field doesn’t mean you may make the writing sound stilted and difficult. You will communicate most clearly using common, everyday business vocabulary, even with your colleagues in the field.

Business Vocabulary Tip 4:

Avoid using abbreviations in business writing.

Avoid using abbreviations and acronyms unless the reader knows them well. For example, you would use “IBM” or “NASA” because those abbreviations are common knowledge. If your company referred to the employment review process as ERP and every employee knew that, you could use the abbreviation in an email to an employee. However, avoid using the abbreviation in an email to someone outside of the company who does not know the process unless you believe that other person needs to learn the abbreviation.

The reason for preferring the full set of words in business writing is that readers may not remember the abbreviation or may be coming into the business writing at a point past the definition when trying to find specific information in the document later. Besides, the full set of words has no negative effects on readers—they don’t mind reading them.

If the full set of words is very long, prefer to use a shortened version, such as “Engleman” for the firm name “Engleman, Breighton, Dawson, and Filburton”. The shortened version provides the reader with enough of the name that he or she will recall the full name.

Avoid abbreviations you must explain in parentheses the first time you use them. If any reader has a less than perfect memory, you will be creating confusion because the reader may have to later browse through the earlier pages of the document to find the definition.

Business Vocabulary Tip 5:

Avoid alternative terms.

Don’t use alternative terms for names, such as “Company” for “Jansen Manufacturing.” Don’t use definitions such as “Company” for a firm’s name or “Plaintiff” for a person’s name. These are called “legal definitions” because they are used extensively in legal writing.

A growing number of business people, attorneys, judges, engineers, and others whose disciplines commonly use unnecessarily complex business vocabulary have joined forces to form the “plain English movement.” They are encouraging all professionals to use vocabulary anyone can understand. Lawyers, especially, must understand that using conventions such as legal definitions makes their writing unnecessarily unclear.

Example

We recommend you not write business writing such as the following example:

Instead, use the complete name or a shortened version of the name in your business writing, as in this rewritten version:

Example

If you wish, include the shortened version of the name in parentheses after the longer version to let the reader know you will use the shortened version in the remainder of the document. However, most often that isn’t necessary.

Use plain English words in your business writing for the following difficult or archaic business vocabulary.

^* Oppenheimer, D. M. (2006). Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly, Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20, 139-156.