Communication Clarity Quotes

If we want to be heard we must speak in a language the listener can understand and on a level at which the listener is capable of operating.

The exact meaning of irony is so narrow that the word is hardly worth using; in its broad, current definition, it's a euphemism for sarcasm. 'I'm not being sarcastic; I'm being ironic.' No, you're not. You're evading the responsibility for being sarcastic.

Don't, Sir, accustom yourself to use big words for little matters.

Grammar is...the pole you grab to get your thoughts up on their feet and walking.

Anyone should be very suspicious of a sentence he's written that can't be read aloud easily.

My speech is too fast; my oration confused; love knows no order.

The best sentence? The shortest.

I'd rather fiddle with my phone for precious seconds than neglect an apostrophe; I'd rather insert a word laboriously keyed out than resort to predictive texting for a - acceptable to some - synonym.

Never mistake legibility for communication.

Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what it is one is saying.

I can't see what's wrong about assuming intelligence in your audience and what's bad news about being rewarded for assuming that.

I speak English my way, but people understand it. You can understand everything I say, and that's the most important thing.

Proper punctuation is both the sign and the cause of clear thinking.

Avoid an unusual and unfamiliar word just as you would a reef.

I see but one rule: to be clear.

If you don't pick your audience, you're lost because you're not really talking to anybody.

Penmanship means a lot to me. I don't have cursive penmanship, though. I've created my own penmanship. It's very clear. Everyone can read it. I write things down all day long.

Dont confuse legibility with communication. Just because something is legible doesnt mean it communicates and, more importantly, doesnt mean it communicates the right thing.

Try not to be either intimidated by or a captive of jargon. Even though it's language, and language is about communication, it often exists actually to obfuscate and to control power and not to communicate.

I do believe that there are African Americans who have thick accents. My mom has a thick accent; my relatives have thick accents. But sometimes you have to adjust when you go into the world of film, TV, theatre, in order to make it accessible to people.

Good writin' ain't necessarily good readin'.

The problem is not software 'friendliness'. It is conceptual clarity. A globe does not say, 'good morning'. It is simple and clear, not 'friendly'.

When I was twenty I was in love with words, a wordsmith. I didn't know enough to know when people were letting words get in their way. Now I like the words to disappear, like a transparent curtain.

The cure for mixed metaphors, I have always found, is for the patient to be obliged to draw a picture of the result.