How to Be Understood

By Jacob O.

The Art of Plain Talk is an old book. You should keep that closer to the front of your mind than any other fact about it. Its copyright date is 1951, and it is a rewrite of the author's even older Ph.D. dissertation. An outdated book on style is usually about as useful as a glass phone case, but time has been unusually kind to this one.

Rudolf Flesch was a leader in linguistics in his time. His studies into readability were widely referenced and used by authors and linguists. In this book, he summarizes years of his research to teach the reader how to be understood.

Know this: The Art of Plain Talk will not make your writing beautiful. It will not make you a poet. Despite the title, it will not make your work into art. This book actively discourages rhythm, metaphor without plain explanation, and other artistic flourishes and techniques. The Art of Plain Talk is not meant to make your work enjoyable to read. It is meant to make people understand you. If your writing already bores readers, this book will not help you. If your audience gets lost and left behind when you write or speak, this book is for you.

As long as you keep its goal in mind, The Art of Plain Talk is very effective. It adheres to its own rules of simplicity and is written in what Flesch calls "standard English." This means that you should be able to understand most of it. However, it is an old book, and certain passages feel awkward or use uncommon words. Interestingly, you can measure the viability of the book's rules and techniques by the style of the book itself. If the text in The Art of Plain Talk reads as somewhat outdated, then its idea of "standard English" must be just as bad. So take the book with a grain of salt, but do read it. Take nothing it tells you for granted, but keep it in the back of your mind. One day, when you're staring down a long and unwieldy sentence, you will be grateful for Flesch's advice.