The Naked Negotiator

Have you ever noticed that smart negotiators use simple words? They don’t try to create confusion and ambiguity with jargon and bull. George Orwell in Animal Farm wrote:

“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttle fish squirting out ink.”

The same advice applies to contracts. Mark Twain advised:

“I notice that you use plain simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English — it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in.”

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