Write dumber to sound smarter

Back in 2006, Princeton psychologist Daniel Oppenheimer proved that writers who needlessly use long words are seen as less intelligent than those who use plain language. Daniel titled his study "Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity." Subtle.

It’s understandable to reach for elevated language. Every profession has its own vocabulary, and the built environment has more than most. But your potential clients don't share it — and they shouldn't need to.

They have a problem they need solving, and they're deciding whether you're the right person to solve it.

Jargon doesn’t impress people

Commissioning a building project is one of the biggest decisions your client will ever make. The costs are significant, the timelines are long, and the process is complex. If they struggle to follow your website copy, proposals, or social posts, they'll wonder whether they'll struggle to follow you in a meeting, on site, or through a planning process.

There's also the matter of attention. Nobody reads everything. We scan, scroll, and skip. Dense paragraphs and technical language are the fastest way to lose someone. If your reader feels like they're missing something, they won't ask for clarification. They'll move on and find someone whose communications feel written for them.

What to do instead

Swap abstract words for concrete ones. The principle is simple — if your reader has to decode a sentence, you've already lost them.

Compare these two:

"The design response addresses adjacency requirements to optimise operational efficiencies for end users."

"The layout puts the teams who work closely together next to each other, so the office works the way the business does."

Both say roughly the same thing. One sounds like it was written by a committee. The other sounds like a person explaining it on a walk-through.

The same principle applies to describing your processes, your approach, and your values. The clearer your language, the cleaner it lands.

Where jargon has its place

On a project, precise technical language still matters — in drawings, specifications, and conversations with contractors, engineers, and consultants who need specificity to do their job.

But external communications are a different beast. Your website, proposals, and social posts are written for people who haven't hired you yet. They don't need to understand your process in technical detail. They need to understand what you do, why it matters, and whether you're the right fit for them.

Where to start

Pick one piece of content — a project page, an about page, a proposal introduction. Read it as if you're a potential client encountering your work for the first time. Every sentence that makes them work harder than they should, rewrite it in plain language. See what changes.

If you want to work through what clear, compelling messaging could look like for your practice, our 1:1 consultancy is a good place to start.