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In This Episode:
Using bigger words and more complex language doesn’t make you sound smarter, it makes people trust and understand you less. This episode looks at why we default to complexity (academic training, status insecurity, the curse of knowledge) and what the research actually says about why clear, simple communication is the real sign of mastery.
What You’ll Learn
- Why using complex words and jargon backfires: research shows it makes people judge you as less intelligent, not more
- How status insecurity drives jargon use, and why people secure in their status tend to communicate more simply
- What the curse of knowledge is, and why the better you understand something, the harder it becomes to explain it simply
- Why complexity bias makes us assume complicated language signals a more valid or serious idea
- How unclear communication erodes trust, not just understanding
- Practical steps to write and speak more clearly: knowing your audience, reading your work aloud, and auditing your own jargon
Resources Mentioned
- Daniel M. Oppenheimer, “Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly” (2006), Applied Cognitive Psychology: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/acp.1178
- Zachariah C. Brown, Eric M. Anicich, and Adam D. Galinsky, “Compensatory Conspicuous Communication: Low Status Increases Jargon Use” (2020), Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
- John Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory