Communication plays a very significant role in our lives. It is what allows us to reach out to others for help, express our needs, and share our knowledge with the rest of the world. It is what helps businesses become successful, too!

Sadly, there are many things out there that can make it harder to communicate, and not being able to use plain language is one of these things. It might not be obvious, but plain language is what allows others to understand you.

If you would like to take your international communication to the next level, then you should keep reading! In this article, you will find a list of tips for improving your plain language. Take a look and be understood by everyone in the room, no matter where you are!

Avoid High-Level Vocabulary

Do you know what high-level vocabulary is? In short, it refers to words that people who are not educated might not be able to understand. If you are not writing a dissertation, it is best avoided in your communication. It applies to every type of text, ranging from product descriptions to tweets.

High-level vocabulary can be very useful, allowing us to express ourselves in ways that are very precise and accurate. However, this comes at the expense of being understood by the majority of people in the room.

That is especially the case if you are speaking with people who are not native speakers of English. In that case, you should use vocabulary that is very easy to comprehend and do your best to avoid borrowings. If you need a few helpful tips on the latter, you can read this blog!

Get Rid of Jargon

Do you know what jargon is? In short, jargon consists of vocabulary items that only certain professionals can use and understand. It might be tempting to use it in an attempt to make whatever you are saying sound more sophisticated, but it is not the best choice.

Once you decide to use jargon, you are making whatever you are saying sound incredibly complicated and less accessible to many people in the room. It would be best if you used plain language instead.

Be Concise

If you want to improve your plain language in an international communication setting, you should try your best to be concise. If you decide to use a bunch of jumbled up sentences to explain your ideas, chances are that the people who are listening to you will lose their interest.

In order to avoid ending up in such a situation, you should start focusing on being concise. That way, it will be easier for people to follow your line of thought and understand what you are trying to say without any difficulties.

Use Active Voice

This is an excellent tip that you can use in your communication on a regular basis. In order to make what you are saying easier to understand, you should focus on using active voice. For example, instead of saying that a meeting will be held next week, you could say that you will hold the meeting next week. It is that simple!

Avoid Weasel Words

Ideally, you should avoid weasel words both while writing and speaking, and that includes phrases like due to the fact that and etcetera. These words can make your message very complicated and require the reader to put in a lot of effort to understand it.

Thus, weasel words are best avoided. Instead, you should focus on being concise and direct. It is what your audience or whoever you are writing to will understand best and it might make them more eager to believe in what you are saying.

Limit Yourself to One Idea Per Paragraph

It might not be that easy to tell, but if you do not limit yourself to one idea per paragraph, your international communication will become difficult for people to understand. In fact, it might overwhelm these people with information.

Instead, you should focus on being easy to understand and make whatever you are saying structured. For instance, if you want to send a lengthy email, you can create an outline first and write the ideas down in such a way that there is only one idea per paragraph.

In Conclusion

In general, there are quite a few things that you can do to improve plain language in your international communication. For instance, you can avoid high-level vocabulary and avoid weasel words, among other things.

Do not worry if it is a bit difficult at first! If you practice using plain language on a regular basis, you will become more aware of what you are saying. This, in turn, will make using plain language a whole lot easier!