Why Simplicity Is the Highest Form of Respect
How clarity honors your audience’s time — and your own
“Can you make it sound more professional?”
That’s what a client once asked me after I simplified the language in her draft post.
She didn’t mean “more professional,” of course.
She meant more sophisticated.
Because somehow we learned that complex language equals intelligence. And that clarity, somehow, cheapens expertise.
But the longer I’ve worked with professionals, the clearer it’s become.
Simplicity isn’t dumbing it down. It’s lifting it up.
It’s the highest form of respect you can offer your audience.
And yourself.
The performance trap
I used to be fluent in jargon.
I could write, “We continuously apply an integrated combination of our signature strengths to create lasting, significant personal transformation” without blinking.
It sounded good. It also meant very little to the man in the street.
But in professional spaces, that kind of language often feels aligned.
It signals we belong. It hides our uncertainty.
Like others, I believed that the more abstract my language, the more legitimate I sounded.
But what it did was build a wall, one word at a time, between me and the people I wanted to reach.
And it’s not only me. I see it every day in client bios, LinkedIn headlines, and academic-speak articles.
We write for approval, not for understanding.
We perform professionalism.
But clarity isn’t unprofessional. It’s powerful.
Because it says:
“I respect you enough not to waste your time.”
Simplicity as service
We tend to forget this, but clarity is an act of generosity.
When you make something easy to understand, you’re saying:
“I care enough to take the time to make this accessible.”
That’s what great teachers do.
It’s what trusted advisors do.
It’s what true leaders do.
They don’t talk down to people — they light up the path.
And it’s not only word choice. It’s emotional clarity as well.
When your message is simple, people feel safe and at ease.
They know what you do and how you can help them.
They don’t have to decode it or second-guess it. They don’t have to ask the “stupid question” to clarify it.
And in a world full of noise, that kind of simplicity stands out like a cool breeze after tropical rain.
One of my clients said, “I feel like now people understand me.” All we had done was remove the filler.
No rebrand. No 12-step strategy. Just clean, honest communication.
The myth of “dumbing it down”
Part of the problem is ego.
Some of us — especially those with long careers — can secretly fear being seen as “too simple.”
We’ve worked hard to master our craft. We’ve earned our credentials, our language, our nuance.
So when we simplify, it can feel like erasing part of that. But simplification doesn’t erase depth. It reveals it.
Think about the line widely attributed to Einstein:
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
How many boring lecturers need to take that on board?
Simplicity is the sign of mastery, not mediocrity.
We don’t need to strip away meaning. We need to distil it.
Saying something complex so that anyone can grasp it gives your expertise real-world power.
A story about clarity (and courage)
Last year, I worked with a first-time author named Lynn. Twenty years of experience with teens. And a deep desire to help them navigate the landmines of living in the 21st century.
We talked about what teens struggle with, what help looks like for them, and how they’d feel reading her book.
I asked whether her teen audience were training as psychologists because she’d included words like “social anxiety disorder” and “selective mutism” in her original book draft. We agreed that only their therapists use these abstract labels to define them.
When teens talk to each other, they say, “I freeze up with other people,” and “I can answer questions in my head but not out loud.” When she switched to the words that teens use, her book came alive. And her teen readers saw themselves in it and became her fans.
Because clarity isn’t clever. It’s connecting.
The inner work of simplification
Simplicity sounds easy, but it isn’t.
It asks us to be brutally honest about what matters. To let go of filler, of performance, of pretence.
And that’s vulnerable.
Because complexity can be a kind of armour.
When we hide behind big words, we don’t have to risk being misunderstood.
But when we speak simply, we stand naked in our clarity. And that’s how trust builds.
Every time you make your message simpler, you also make it more you.
How to simplify without shrinking
If you’re ready to make your message clearer, your headline, offer, or how you describe what you do, try this exercise:
1️⃣ Ask a friend outside your field to read your bio or pitch.
Can they tell who you help and how? If not, simplify until they can.
2️⃣ Replace every abstract word with a concrete one.
“Solutions” → “results.”
“Leverage” → “use.”
“Optimize” → “improve.”
3️⃣ Focus on results, not roles.
Instead of “I provide executive coaching,” try “I help leaders make better decisions faster.”
4️⃣ Say it out loud.
If it sounds like something you’d never say in a real conversation, rewrite it.
5️⃣ Ask the real question:
Does this sentence invite connection or create distance?
Clarity connects. Complexity separates.
Simplicity honours time
What I’ve learned after working with high-achieving professionals?
The more successful people become, the more they crave simplicity.
Not because they’ve lost their edge — but because they’ve learned that time matters most.
When you communicate clearly, you honour your audience’s time — and your own.
You say, “I value you enough to be direct.”
You say, “I respect myself enough to be understood.”
And that’s rare.
In a culture that rewards noise, clarity makes a mark.
Closing reflection
Simplicity isn’t about making yourself smaller.
It’s about making your impact larger.
When your message is clear, you don’t have to shout.
People lean in naturally — because they feel seen.
So the next time you’re tempted to add more words, more jargon, more layers,
remember this. Every word between you and your audience is a tiny act of distance.
And every word you remove is a gesture of respect.
Call to Action:
If this resonates, take ten minutes this week to read your own “About” section. Or your LinkedIn summary or homepage.
Then ask yourself the hardest, simplest question:
“Would a stranger instantly know who I help and how?”
If not, start there.
Clarity isn’t just good communication.
It’s leadership.
Hi Jeanette,
I thought your post was outstanding. As a communication studies professor, I talk about language use often, and you nailed it—simple is service. Bravo!
Great point. One of my teachers always used to say when you're stuck struggling with how to word something, just stop and (simply:) ask yourself "What am I trying to say?" You can embellish it, or just say it in the most simple way.