By Patricia Pollack

CHARLOTTE, NC – U.S. Congressman and lawyer Maury Maverick coined the word gobbledygook in 1944 to describe the use of obtuse, bureaucratic language that is often nonsensical to the average reader.

And that’s what legalese is: gobbledygook verbiage filled with jargon and antiquated phrases that the reader sees as unintelligible encrypted text. Legalese uses indirect ways to express thoughts with pretentious phrases and abstract wording. Here is an example:

A prehearing conference was held on July 15, and the result of said conference was that David was given an extension of time until August 6 to respond to Edward’s motion. David subsequently failed to file any response thereto.

If you were speaking with an individual, would you ever really say “said conference”? How many times have you uttered the word “thereto” in your entire life? It would have been clearer if written as follows:

A prehearing conference was held on July 15. David was given until August 6 to respond to Edward’s motion. David failed to file a response.

Connect with your audience
Communication is all about connecting with your audience. Your aim is to be understood because being understood is the only way to connect through communication. It doesn’t matter how smart you are or how much time you’ve invested in writing a document. If you don’t connect, then you have failed to communicate.

Legalese actually results in cognitive closure for the reader. That’s the mental equivalent of your audience slamming a door in your face. The reader doesn’t understand what you are saying and so no communication is taking place.

So how do you eliminate that gobbledygook from your written communication? The first step is to understand that it’s not about you. It is about who you are trying to connect with.

That is why knowing your audience is such a critical part of writing well. Who exactly is going to read what you’ve written? Who is it that you’re trying to reach?

Keep your audience forefront
What are their common traits? Are they within a particular industry such as agriculture, biotech, construction, or healthcare?

Are they of a certain professional level, such as senior executive or in a common functional area such as human resources? You need to understand who you will be communicating with so that you can speak in their language, not yours.

Continue to keep your audience in the forefront of your thinking as you map out exactly what you want readers to take away from what you’ve written. Is your goal to persuade or to inform or both? Once you’ve determined the purpose of your writing, then clearly state your case using a logical flow and organization, always remembering to use the plain language of your audience.

Habits are hard to break. Legalese may be incorporated into your writing without you realizing it. One of the best ways to uncover that gobbledygook is to read it aloud and actually listen to what you’ve written.

If you had to take a breath in the middle of a sentence, that’s a good indication that it contains legalese, making it too long for comprehension. Gobbledygook tends to trip you up so if you stumble over the words as you’re reading, then you’ve probably tripped over legalese that should be removed.

Get outside feedback
An even better way to ensure understanding is to ask someone outside the legal profession to read what you’ve written and give you feedback.

It can be a truly humbling experience, but it is an excellent way to learn how to write without using legalese. And the more you practice, the less you will have to rely on others to clear out the gobbledygook.

Clear, concise language is easier for the reader to comprehend. Fewer words allow important points to stand out because they don’t get lost in the crowd of legalese.

Having said all this, do not forget what you are ultimately trying to accomplish in your quest to be simple: comprehension and connection. Keep your audience and the purpose of your communication in the forefront of your mind and you will soon see that the legalese has disappeared from your writing.

Patricia Pollack is President of My Team of Experts Inc., a public relations firm for small businesses. She can be reached at 704-516-0157 or visit MyTeamofExperts.com

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