When you want to communicate with someone, you need to use the right words. Too many people believe that they will appear smarter and their writing more authoritative if they use big words.
Using big words (such as authoritative) might make you look smart and might even fool people into thinking that you know a lot, or at least a lot about what you're spouting off about, but they won't help you communicate.
Big words, like big boulders on a hiking path, get in the way. They interfere with communication. They do not speak at the heart level. They require deciphering in the head.
Diane Lefer, one of my favorite authors and friends, once said,
Good writers know all the big words.
Great writers know better than to use them.
Comments