Does your business English sound like something you’d never actually say?

A client told me yesterday that she had “optimised her learning delivery”.

I smiled. “Would you genuinely say that to someone at work?“

She laughed. “No. I’d say… we made the training better.“

There it was.

If you wouldn’t say it in a normal conversation, don’t write it.

Your English becomes clearer the moment your words sound like you.

Two quick swaps I see constantly:

“Facilitate knowledge transfer”
→ “Help people learn”

“Optimise learning delivery”
→ “Make training better”

Your rule from today:

If a phrase doesn’t tell you something new or make your point clearer, it’s taking up space. Cut it.

Your readers will thank you.

What’s one phrase you’ll simplify this week?