“I try to tell the news in the language the people in this country speak.” (Imus in the Morning, 4/4/06)
First, notice he said tell, not read, announce or pronounce. And he does it, he says, in the common language of the average person.
That’s what I always encourage clients to do. Your ads and marketing communications materials should be written using what I call “shirtsleeve English.” That’s the kind of language that flows easily out of our mouths and into the brains of potential clients and customers. They don’t have to stop and puzzle out the big fancy words, and translate them in their heads, to understand what we mean.
Take it from Bob Schieffer: a class act, a superb communicator and a helluva nice guy. (No, I don’t know him. But you can tell.)