Simple language is key to connecting with experts and the general public alike. It doesn’t have to mean ‘dumbing down’ a topic to make it easier to understand, it can simply mean writing copy in a clear and accessible manner.

Finding your purpose 

Before drafting a complex piece of writing, it’s important to think about its purpose. This can help to streamline the content, ensuring it offers everything your audience needs to know, without becoming muddled with unnecessary information. Consider:

• Who your audience is

• What you are offering to your audience

• How you are targeting your audience

• What your main message is

• Why people should read your content

Focusing your writing in this way is the first step to simpler, more easily digestible content. If your first draft feels confused in any way, then don’t be afraid to rewrite it. Putting together a plan before drafting can help to keep an article on track and lessen the chances of needing to rewrite.

All about accessibility

The goal is always to educate and entertain your audience, and simplicity is key to this. Have you ever read an article full of jargon or overly long sentences and given up halfway through? These types of content fail to deliver their purpose, offering its audience further confusion, rather than clarification.

By keeping the language you use free of complexity, readers are much more likely to reach the end of the article feeling informed, not frustrated. Here are a few tips on how to make writing accessible:

• Avoid jargon – Never assume that the reader has a certain level of knowledge. Doing so can risk your audience feeling alienated and talked down to.

• Make it ‘breathable’ – Reading shouldn’t feel like running a marathon. Keep paragraphs short and breathable to allow people to process what they have read as they go.

• Reduce long sentences – When a topic is complex, readers don’t want to waste their brain power unpicking long and convoluted sentences. One idea should be one sentence.

Cut-to-fit 

No matter how long a piece of writing is, it’s important to keep it concise. Cutting out non-essential adjectives and adverbs, and using simpler synonyms were appropriate can make an article or blog much more reader friendly.

Also avoid using long (and often cliched) expressions, such as ‘bring to the table’ and use straight to the point alternatives, for example ‘suggest’. The same goes for redundant phrases, like ‘It is necessary that people’ instead of ‘People must’. These clutter up writing rather than adding value.

Simplifying writing is a skill that takes time to learn, but once you’ve mastered it, you’ll be able to turn the most complicated of topics into reader friendly content.