The importance of using plain English in business, commerce and industry | Jerome Espinosa Baladad, Moving On

Baladad begins his blog noting that language is such a powerful tool that people have used it to dominate other since mankind started writing down history. He writes:

The English language, per se, is not the main culprit but those interesting characters we meet all the time in our lives and who think of themselves as superior, one way or another, just because they happen to be speaking in a language that’s used in business, commerce and industry.

Fortunately, Baladad is not advocating use of plain language to dominate others. Instead, he makes four points to simplify language in any kind of transaction.

Summarized, here are Baladad's points:

1) Keep in mind that many people (so many, actually!) outside of the USA, Canada, some Caribbean countries, UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand who know and understand English. But the kind of English they know may sound different from what you may be using now. ...

2) Be deliberately simple whenever you use English whenever you talk with others who speak languages other than English. You’ll certainly be more appreciated ....

3) English is constantly being mixed with other languages in other countries. Keep in mind that there are other versions of English that are spoken freely with other languages, like Taglish, Singlish, Indian English, etc. ...

4) Also, try to always remember that others actually read and hear better in English than when they speak it. ...

For more advice on using plain English, check out Garbl's Plain English Writing Guide. The guide describes these steps:

• Focusing on your reader and purpose
• Organizing your ideas
• Writing clear, effective paragraphs
• Writing clear, simple sentences
• Using suitable words
• Creating an enticing design
• Testing for clarity.