How to sound smarter when you talk, and why big words backfire

✗ Don’t: dress it up in big wordsWe should utilise our resources to facilitate collaboration.

✓ Do: say exactly what you meanLet’s share one client list with the Leeds team.

To sound smarter when you talk, say exactly what you mean in ordinary words and give one concrete example. Reaching for big words usually costs you: in a 2006 study, people rated writers as less intelligent when their essays used needlessly complex words. In meetings, a specific detail or one sharp question shows more thought than a long, impressive-sounding comment.

Why big words backfire

In 2006 Daniel Oppenheimer published a paper in Applied Cognitive Psychology called “Consequences of erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity”. Its subtitle says the same thing plainly: “problems with using long words needlessly”. Most undergraduates, the paper reports, admit to making their vocabulary more complex on purpose to seem intelligent.

It didn’t work. When the texts were made more complex, readers judged their authors as less intelligent, and that held whether the original essay was good or poor. The harm came from how hard the text was to read. Texts printed in a hard-to-read font were also judged to come from less intelligent authors.

The study tested writing, not speech. We think the lesson applies at least as strongly when you talk, because a listener can’t go back and reread a sentence they lost.

Five moves that work

• Be specific. Give the exact version of a general claim: “sales dipped” becomes “sales fell 8% in March”. A number, a name or a date shows you know the detail.
• Give one concrete example. After a general point, say “for example” and describe one real case. One good example usually does more than three quick ones.
• Swap vague words for exact ones. Words like “things”, “issues” and “impact” leave the listener to guess what you mean. Name it instead: “the login bug”, “the delivery date”, “two lost customers”. Our list of words to use instead of very works the same way.
• Say “I don’t know” well. Say what you know, what you don’t, and when you’ll find out: “I don’t have the March figures with me. I’ll send them by Thursday.” A bluff tends to fall apart at the first follow-up question.
• In meetings, ask one sharp question. Pick the question that could change the decision, such as “What happens if the supplier is late?” or “Which of these would we drop first?”

When you’re put on the spot

Take a second, then answer in a set order: your point, one reason or example, and what happens next. “Short answer: yes, with one risk. The supplier hasn’t confirmed dates, so I’d hold the launch until Friday.” A silent pause while you think is fine, and our guide to saying um less shows how to pause instead of filling the gap.

If the point won’t come at all, our guide to explaining one idea clearly has a simple outline you can learn in advance.

A five-minute rewrite

1. Pick something you said or wrote in a recent meeting, message or email.
2. Mark any word you chose to sound impressive, and any vague word such as “things” or “impact”.
3. Rewrite it with the exact word, and add one figure or one real case.
4. Say both versions out loud. Keep the one a colleague could repeat to someone else without asking you what you meant.

Play: pick the precise word

Each sentence is something you might say at work. Pick the word that says exactly what you mean.

Sales ____ slightly in March, then recovered in April.

• plummeted
• dipped
• stagnated

Check the answer

Dipped. It means fell a little, often for a short time. Plummeted means fell fast and far, and stagnated means stopped growing, so neither fits a small fall.

Her report and yours can’t both be right. The two sets of figures ____ each other.

• complement
• duplicate
• contradict

Check the answer

Contradict. It means they say opposite things. Figures that complement each other fit together, and figures that duplicate each other say the same thing twice.

Treat this figure as a rough ____ until the supplier sends a firm price.

• estimate
• quote
• invoice

Check the answer

Estimate. It means an approximate figure. A quote is the firm price the supplier is about to send, and an invoice is the bill that comes after the work.

Can you ____ what you mean by ‘soon’? Is it this week or next month?

• repeat
• clarify
• defend

Check the answer

Clarify. It means make something clearer, which is what the follow-up question asks for. Repeating it would give the same vague word again, and defending it would argue for it without explaining it.

We had three days of notes, so I ____ them into one page for the board.

• expanded
• transcribed
• condensed

Check the answer

Condensed. It means made shorter while keeping the main points. Expanding would make the notes longer, and transcribing means writing down what was said, word for word.

Where arcoco fits

If you liked picking the exact word in the rounds above, arcoco is a short daily word game.