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Doublespeak is a common thing that needs attention when writing so you are communicating clearly and not using it maintains your trust with your reader.  So what is doublespeak?  Words that are deceptive, evasive, jargon, confusing or euphemistic. 

The deceptive word trap appears when you are using words that are not clean when explaining a problem.  If you have a virus on your computer you need to clarify and say so not that your computer is infected.  That causes your reader to question what you are writing and then question the credibility of your whole story when you were referring to the virus as an infection or what I commonly hear – my computer has a problem.

The evasive word trap appears when you are not clear about your topic and the way to present it.  Ex: you might say your character is an insurance specialist and sells insurance.  No one knows what an insurance specialist is or does so just say your character sells ex:life insurance. Don’t embellish to make your character sound more credible.  Doing that is likely to produce the opposite result and may have the reader again questioning your credibility because of the evasiveness.

The jargon word trap appears when you use the jargon commonly found in an industry ex:financial planner.  You can identify this industry jargon when the profit or return on investment is referred to as yield.  Again someone outside the industry who is reading about your character can be confused because they do not understand the jargon. 

The euphemism word trap appears when words are used to soften or hide reality.  Ex: We went from shell shock to battle fatigue to operational exhaustion and now the euphemism post-tramatic stress disorder.  It didn’t change the effect the person was experiencing and depending on what other words are used around the description of the events your character was experiencing it can almost disguise the real experience and downplay it’s impact on the character’s life.

The context of the words you are using and the intention behind the words can move words from good to bad and anywhere along the scale between these two points.  Use words that speak the truth and your reader can connect with your story and quickly understand your outcome or purpose you have in writing it.

For more information on how to use the power of words leave your name and email address so I can notify you of teleseminars that are scheduled.  Having word power can make you a more successful writer and can increase the price people are willing to pay for your written work.