Simplify this
Recruitment writing, pt 5
Who here remembers Maths at school?
When we were given a challenging formula to simplify.
A taxing task for many, but the point, which is valid in any walk of life, was that a simplified formula is easier to read while having the same meaning.
If you got the simplification wrong, your answer would be different to the correct one, with a different meaning.
Even if the simplified answer has little meaning to you, it is inherently easier to copy. Because it has fewer numbers and letters.
It’s the same in language. No surprise, given maths is language.
Fun fact – my Doctor friend Rich reliably informs me that many medical terms are in Latin simply to make them sound more plausible.
The reason, he says, is to make patients think Doctors know what they are doing and make the guesswork of Doctory seem more scientific.
I’m sure there are also reasons of consistency and actual Science, but let’s believe Rich for once.
Often the English translation sounds silly or trivial.
The terrifying malady Borborygmus is a rumbling tummy. If you suffer from Singultus, well that’s just hiccups.
How would you rather them be described?
Sounding clever is a valid tactic in US politics, and the filibuster is used to prevent decisions from being made, or from allowing others to have their say. Talk, talk, talk - so that no one else can.
Can you imagine how a date would go down if the other half filibustered their way through dinner?
As well as being aggravating, you wouldn’t come away knowing anything about them except that they love the sound of their own voice.
The danger of sounding too clever is that it pushes your audience away from finding real meaning.
This makes it a troubling truth that the majority of recruitment messages are nothing but hot air, dressed up with words that are hoped to seem grander.
The psychology is much the same as in Medicine, using Verborrhea to make us seem smarter and more trustworthy. I’m sure you can guess what Verborrhea is - it’s on my word-of-the-day toilet paper.
But the opposite is often true. If you hide behind clever words, it can show you haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.
What would happen if you write in the language of your audience, simplifying words and concepts without losing meaning?
For a start, your message would be shorter and likely more precise.
Here’s a list of classic clever words, and their normal counterparts:
1/ Utilise/leverage – use
2/ Facilitate – help
3/ Ascertain – find out
4/ Expedite – speed up
5/ Mitigate – reduce
6/ Acquire – gain
7/ Implement – carry out
8/ Paradigm – example
9/ Out-of-the-box / blue sky – creative
10/ Thought leader – expert
11/ Core competencies – skills
12/ Interpersonal skills – people skills
13/ Deliverables – results
14/ Quantifiable – measurable
15/ Synergy – collaboration
16/ Value proposition – benefits
17/ ROI – return on investment
18/ TLA – three letter abbreviation (tla) – always better to write them out first
19/ Disruptive – innovative
20/ Innovative – how so?
What confuses matters is that, much like in Maths, you can only simplify to a point. Words have meaning, when used well. Simplify too far, and they lose meaning and gain ambiguity.
Utilise has seven letters. Leverage uses eight, ineffectively. Use utilises three. Use wins, right?
Utilise is defined as “to use effectively”, so can be utilised instead of “use effectively”, because it’s fewer words and letters.
Leverage means, in this context, “to use for maximum advantage”. It sounds great if you leverage the power of LinkedIn but, let’s be honest, most of us just use it and many don’t use it well at all.
If this seems pedantic, consider this:
I feel used vs I feel utilised.
Using the simplest words possible, without creating ambiguity, makes your content more accessible, trustworthy, approachable and widens your audience.
Replacing simple words with longer ones to sound cleverer can both have the opposite effect and be used incorrectly.
Myself has six letters. Me?
Which sounds better: pass me the butter, or pass myself the butter?
If it doesn’t sound good, it likely isn’t.
Simplicity doesn’t mean ease, and it can take a lot of effort to write a message that has maximum meaning in the fewest words and simplest way.
While simplicity is a skill to develop, there are steps we’ve already talked about that help: so what, why does it matter?
If it doesn’t need to be there, take it out. If there’s a simpler word, use that. If a term raises a question, change it so that the question needn’t be asked.
Why say leverage instead of use? If you can’t answer, ‘use’ is the word.
‘Clever words’ can be confused with words that have meaning.
For example, a “Sales, Inventory and Operations Planning Manager” (SIOP Manager) is an integrated specialism in Supply Chain Management.
However, a Supply Chain Manager may have the skills set required, without necessarily considering themselves a SIOP Manager.
Wouldn’t you rather have that discussion, than let them assume?
AI – Large language models (LLM). This is an example of a catch-all marketing term that doesn’t have an implicit meaning.
The LLM that is ChatGPT is the hot AI discussion point today, but it isn’t genuine AI. Here the seemingly more complicated Large Language Model is the better term, if say you were recruiting for a Natural Language specialist.
An AI specialist might invite applications from Data Scientists or Computer Vision engineers.
So while AI might seem simpler and cooler, it can also be the dead wrong term to use.
I’m sure it’s an easy fallback if you don’t know what you’re talking about, but can you see how that will work against you?
The point of simpler communication is to give better meaning to the readers that matter – the candidates you want to talk to.
The next newsletter continues this theme, by looking at specific parts of recruitment where words can help and hinder: job titles, job descriptions, key skills, and so on.
I’ll show myself out.
Regards,
Greg
p.s. While you are here, if you like the idea of improving how you recruit, lack capacity or need better candidates, and are curious how I can help, these are my services:
- commercial, operational and technical leadership recruitment (available for no more than three vacancies)
- manage part or all of your recruitment on an individually designed basis for one client
- recruitment coaching and mentoring
- recruitment strategy setting
- outplacement support
Just hit reply to check if my approach is right for you.