Would you say it this way over coffee?
Winston Churchill said, “All the greatest things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honour; duty; mercy; hope.”
A good reminder for all of us who communicate for a living. In presentations, simplicity is not a weakness. It’s a sign of clarity.
Last year, I worked with a client who had this line on a slide:
Champion end-to-end process optimization and deliver a seamless experience
I asked him what it meant.
After he explained, I walked over to the computer and changed the slide to this:
Make the process easier for everyone
I looked at him and asked, “Is that what you mean?”
He smiled and said, “Yes.”
I replied, “Then say it like that.”
Too many presentations are buried under jargon, buzzwords, and inflated language. People speak as though they are writing for a corporate policy manual instead of talking to human beings.
But audiences don’t connect with jargon.
They connect with clarity.
Simple language is harder to create because it forces us to think clearly. It forces us to understand what we really mean. And when we finally do, our message becomes more powerful, more memorable, and more human.
This week, look at your slides, your speeches, your emails, your meetings.
Ask yourself: “How would I say this to another person over coffee?”
Then say it that way.
