You know how people at work write emails that feel like a dictionary exploded? I see this all the time. Long sentences stuffed with fancy words like "utilize" or "finalize" or "rectify." I used to think that was smart. Boy, was I wrong.

My Big Meeting Mess-Up

So this week, I had to fix my team's problem reports. The way we wrote them was ridiculous. Instead of saying "Fix the database bug," we had "Implement corrective measures for the anomalous database state." Reading that felt like chewing cardboard. I didn't see how bad it was until my presentation tanked. I gave them the fancy report full of ten-dollar words. People just nodded politely. Nobody asked a single question. Crickets.

I used this disaster as a wake-up call. Time to clean up the mess.

• First, I looked at one awful sentence: "Facilitate the enhancement of the UI." I yelled "USE! Just say improve the UI!" Felt better already.
• Another gem: "Leverage the functionality." Cut it down to use the feature. Simple.
• The killer: "Initiate rectification." Almost threw my coffee cup. Just say fix it! For Pete's sake.

Honestly, it was like pulling teeth, stripping out all the garbage words. Every report looked naked at first.

Trying it Out Loud

Then came Thursday's team meeting. My turn to talk again. Deep breath. I threw out the fancy report. Instead, I just told them:

• We need to fix the login bug.
• Dev should use the new test tools.
• Let's clean up the client list tomorrow.

I finished in five minutes. Boom. Silence again... but then hands shot up. Actual questions! The product guy nodded. The dev lead grinned and said, "Finally, something I understand." Even the manager looked less like he wanted a nap. We argued about how to fix the bug, not what "initiate rectification" meant.

Walking back to my desk felt like floating. Such a small change with big results. People didn't look confused or angry anymore. They knew exactly what to do.

Lesson learned: big words don't make you smart. They just build walls. Use the small ones. Fix your language. Clean out the garbage. People understand action. Don't hide behind the dictionary.