Writing simply and clearly makes you look smart.
April 27th, 2008At Placemaking Group we tend to do all of our communications, including our Web work, in a simple straight forward style. Now we know that there is a study that backs us up! Here is a report from LiveScience. If you want to read the whole report the URL is at the bottom. But for now, let’s keep it simple!
Simple Writing Makes You Look Smart By Robert Roy Britt LiveScience Managing Editor…
Many fledgling writers have been taught the mnemonic KISS: Keep it simple, stupid. A new study backs the wisdom of that advice.
Long words used needlessly along with complicated font styles are perceived as coming from less intelligent writers.
Or, to put it simply: Short words and classic fonts make you look smart.
Daniel Oppenheimer at Princeton University conducted five experiments manipulating the complexity of vocabulary or font style. Samples included graduate school applications, sociology dissertation abstracts, and translations of a work by Descartes.
Simple writing done in the easy-to-read font tended to be rated as coming from a more intelligent author than the more complex drafts.
“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 said.
He added, though, that the study does not suggest long words are inherently bad, but only that using them needlessly is a problem. Oppenheimer said. “One thing seems certain: write as simply and plainly as possible and it’s more likely you’ll be thought of as intelligent.”
This may not be the way to get an A on your college thesis, but it is the way to influence people!
This is another interesting article, I have read quite a lot of your articles on your blog over the last few days, they are really interesting and well written.I too am a blogger so i know how hard it can be to think of things to write, well done keep it up! Added this blog to my favourites