Back in January, I pointed to a Siegel & Gale survey of 1,214 American homeowners and investors that looked at consumer perceptions of complex language in marketing communications and contracts.

To recap briefly, many consumers believe corporations use complex language and industry jargon to intentionally deceive and hide risks from them. People don’t trust large corporations, and 84% of all consumers say they are more likely to trust a company that uses jargon-free, plain English in communications.

Jargon isn’t credible

If you work in the corporate world, you know that business-speak and industry jargon runs rampant in day-to-day business communications. It creeps into marketing materials, sales presentations and press releases, often looking something like this:

We’re thrilled to partner with XYZ company. We’ll leverage their leading-edge technology, thus adding value to and enhancing the synergies between the best-in-class solutions we offer our customers. This same out-of-the-box thinking will help us utilize our resources and ultimately shift the industry paradigm.*

I’m wondering… does anybody believe this crap? Does anyone seriously expect a reader to be able to extract meaningful information from those words? And if you don’t believe it when other people spew it, why do you inflict it on others?

Plain English is good for business

Simple, clear language is powerful. It promotes trust in your organization, and people buy from companies they trust. More than 75% of consumers refuse to buy from a company they don’t trust. Plain language helps people find and understand information more quickly. People who understand more make fewer support calls, so your company saves money.

To quote Strunk & White, vigorous writing is concise. Be positive. Be active. Be personal. Plain English is the best way to help your readers understand your content and act on it appropriately. It sells.

Simple language is compelling. Use it wisely.

Photo credit: Joe Nangle

1. * Thanks for the sample gibberish, @xagoeson!

recent survey

According to the survey:

Three-quarters of survey respondents (75%) say that complexity and lack of understanding have played a significant role in the current financial crisis. Moreover, 63% of those surveyed feel that “banks, mortgage lenders and Wall Street intentionally make things complicated to hide risks or to keep people in the dark.”

Trust in companies is predictably down, the survey shows. Compared to one year ago, 37% are less likely to trust their mortgage lender, 36% are less likely to trust their broker or financial adviser, and 35% are less likely to trust their bank.

If you’re still writing boring, lawyer-safe, reader-hostile English, stop it. If years of corporate-speak have made you forget how to write any other way, here’s one guide from the Plain English Campaign and another from Party of the First Part.