Leadership requires clarity of thought, speech and writing. But all too often business executives fall into the trap of using (and overusing) corporate buzzwords – ‘deep dive’, ‘move the needle’, ‘outside the box’ – and filling their emails and documents with obfuscating jargon.

Former speechwriter to Tony Blair, Philip Collins argues that ‘business is a simple enterprise made complex by people who do it badly’. His new book, To Be Clear: A Style Guide for Business Writing, is a call to arms, urging businesses to stop using the language of nonsense and start communicating with clarity, simplicity and meaning. 

In this episode of the No Bullsh*t Leadership podcast, hosted by CEO of Havas Creative Chris Hirst, we explored how business writing has changed over time, how business executives can practically cut through the bullsh*t that has become orthodox, and how we can all wield language to become better leaders. 

If you enjoyed this podcast please let us know what you think by rating and reviewing No Bullsh*t Leadership on Apple Podcasts. For updates on the series follow @intelligence2 and @chrishirst on Twitter. 

Producer & Editor: Bella Soames;

Technical Support: Mark Roberts. 

Chris Hirst is author of the award-winning book No Bulls*ht Leadership: Why the World Needs More Everyday Leaders and Why That Leader Is You. 

Podnotes: 

Connect with Chris Hirst on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrishirst/, Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrishirst and on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrishirst_leadership/

Watch exclusive content and original videos from Chris Hirst on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNC4qT90ArKOuKV8B0LWTWA

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