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Say What You Mean
Explains the basic principles of effective business communication and offers guidance in writing clear, simple English
163 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
44 people want to read
About the author
Rudolf Flesch
31 books31 followersFrom Wikipedia,
Rudolf Flesch (8 May 1911 – 5 October 1986) was an author, readability expert, and writing consultant who was an early and vigorous proponent of plain English in the United States. He created the Flesch Reading Ease test and was co-creator of the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test. He was raised in Austria and finished university there, studying law. He then moved to the United States and entered a graduate program at Columbia University, where he earned a Ph.D in English.
Flesch was born in Vienna, Austria. He fled to the United States to avoid the imminent invasion of the Nazis, to avoid Jewish prosecution. Once in America, he met Elizabeth Terpenning, whom he married. They had six children: Anne, Hugo, Jillian, Katrina, Abigal, and Janet. Flesch lived the majority of his life with his wife and children in Dobbs Ferry, New York, a small village in southern Westchester county.
[edit] Professional Information
Not long after finishing his degree, he wrote what became his most famous book, Why Johnny Can't Read, in 1955. The book was a focused critique of the then-trendy movement to teach reading by sight, often called the "look-say" method. The flaw of this approach, according to Flesch, was that it required learners to memorize words by sight. When confronted with an unknown word, the learner was stumped. Flesch advocated a return to phonics, the teaching of reading by teaching learners to sound out words.
Flesch flourished as a writing teacher, plain-English consultant, and author. He wrote many books on the subject of clear, effective communication: How to Test Readability (1951), How to Write Better (1951), The Art of Plain Talk (1946), The Art of Readable Writing (1949), The ABC of Style: A Guide to Plain English (1964), and Rudolf Flesch on Business Communications: How to Say What You Mean in Plain English (1972).
Flesch produced three other books of note:
In The Art of Clear Thinking (1951), Flesch consolidates research data and then-recent findings from the fields of psychology and education, and suggests how his readers can apply that information in their daily life. As he writes in his introduction, "It would be impudent to tell intelligent, grown up people how to think. All I have tried to do here is to assemble certain known facts about the human mind and put them in plain English."
In Lite English (1983), Flesch advocated the use of many colloquial and informal words. The subtitle of the book reveals his bias: Popular Words That Are OK to Use No Matter What William Safire, John Simon, Edwin Newman, and the Other Purists Say!
And in 1979, Flesch published a book he had produced while working as a communication and writing consultant to the Federal Communications Commission: How to Write Plain English: A Book for Lawyers and Consumers. This book was and is a "how to" for writing rules and regulations that must be read and understood by the general public.
Rudolf Flesch (8 May 1911 – 5 October 1986) was an author, readability expert, and writing consultant who was an early and vigorous proponent of plain English in the United States. He created the Flesch Reading Ease test and was co-creator of the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test. He was raised in Austria and finished university there, studying law. He then moved to the United States and entered a graduate program at Columbia University, where he earned a Ph.D in English.
Flesch was born in Vienna, Austria. He fled to the United States to avoid the imminent invasion of the Nazis, to avoid Jewish prosecution. Once in America, he met Elizabeth Terpenning, whom he married. They had six children: Anne, Hugo, Jillian, Katrina, Abigal, and Janet. Flesch lived the majority of his life with his wife and children in Dobbs Ferry, New York, a small village in southern Westchester county.
[edit] Professional Information
Not long after finishing his degree, he wrote what became his most famous book, Why Johnny Can't Read, in 1955. The book was a focused critique of the then-trendy movement to teach reading by sight, often called the "look-say" method. The flaw of this approach, according to Flesch, was that it required learners to memorize words by sight. When confronted with an unknown word, the learner was stumped. Flesch advocated a return to phonics, the teaching of reading by teaching learners to sound out words.
Flesch flourished as a writing teacher, plain-English consultant, and author. He wrote many books on the subject of clear, effective communication: How to Test Readability (1951), How to Write Better (1951), The Art of Plain Talk (1946), The Art of Readable Writing (1949), The ABC of Style: A Guide to Plain English (1964), and Rudolf Flesch on Business Communications: How to Say What You Mean in Plain English (1972).
Flesch produced three other books of note:
In The Art of Clear Thinking (1951), Flesch consolidates research data and then-recent findings from the fields of psychology and education, and suggests how his readers can apply that information in their daily life. As he writes in his introduction, "It would be impudent to tell intelligent, grown up people how to think. All I have tried to do here is to assemble certain known facts about the human mind and put them in plain English."
In Lite English (1983), Flesch advocated the use of many colloquial and informal words. The subtitle of the book reveals his bias: Popular Words That Are OK to Use No Matter What William Safire, John Simon, Edwin Newman, and the Other Purists Say!
And in 1979, Flesch published a book he had produced while working as a communication and writing consultant to the Federal Communications Commission: How to Write Plain English: A Book for Lawyers and Consumers. This book was and is a "how to" for writing rules and regulations that must be read and understood by the general public.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 14, 2018
If I've read this book earlier, I would have made a great progress in grad school. This wonderful beginners book teaches us how to communicate in a simple fashion. I'm surprised and disappointed, the basic principles of modern professional writing are still not taught at schools and universities around the world.
April 9, 2015
I really enjoyed reading this book because I believe in the end, it will make me a better communicator. If you are anything like me, you were taught to follow all of the rules of grammar when writing. The problem is that this is not how we speak, and if we are going to write with the aim of engaging a particular audience, we must know how that audience engages and alter our style. Rudolf Flesch recommends that in most cases, we write conversationally. That is, we write just like we talk. End your sentence in a preposition, use contractions, and use shorter sentences are just a few examples of how he suggests we do that.
At first I really struggled with this idea. I am one who appreciates language and the proper use of language. However, the turning point for me actually came when I sat the book down and picked up a Greek New Testament to read a passage I was about to teach on. What I saw was nothing new, but I saw it as if it were altogether new! What is it about the Bible that makes it so easy to understand compared to other books that have been written on similar topics? The answer to that is actually very complex, but what I want to focus on is the simple use of language by the authors. The New Testament was written in a vulgar Greek rather than classical high Greek. The authors often broke all of the formal rules of writing but wrote so plainly that their words have transformed countless hearts. And that is where the rubber and the road meet. I asked myself just one simple question: Do I want my writing (and my speaking for that matter) to be highly regarded for its eloquence? Or do I want it to transform hearts? For me, it's a no brainer. Write in a manner which engages the heart and soul of the reader and my mission will be accomplished. That is what this book attempts to do. Teach people to write in a conversational manner that draws the reader into the text and facilitates a changed heart as a result. For that, I give it a very worthy three stars.
At first I really struggled with this idea. I am one who appreciates language and the proper use of language. However, the turning point for me actually came when I sat the book down and picked up a Greek New Testament to read a passage I was about to teach on. What I saw was nothing new, but I saw it as if it were altogether new! What is it about the Bible that makes it so easy to understand compared to other books that have been written on similar topics? The answer to that is actually very complex, but what I want to focus on is the simple use of language by the authors. The New Testament was written in a vulgar Greek rather than classical high Greek. The authors often broke all of the formal rules of writing but wrote so plainly that their words have transformed countless hearts. And that is where the rubber and the road meet. I asked myself just one simple question: Do I want my writing (and my speaking for that matter) to be highly regarded for its eloquence? Or do I want it to transform hearts? For me, it's a no brainer. Write in a manner which engages the heart and soul of the reader and my mission will be accomplished. That is what this book attempts to do. Teach people to write in a conversational manner that draws the reader into the text and facilitates a changed heart as a result. For that, I give it a very worthy three stars.
March 15, 2014
I picked this one up in my company's library, because I'm working on a scientific publication and would like to improve my writing style. Considering the fact that the book predates internet and e-mail, I found it to be suprisingly helpful and very applicable to today's ways of communication.
I'm not sure if his writing style is considered appropriate in scientific publications (especially by my superiors, I think the scientific community can be quite flexible), but I am convinced it makes the written word more accessible. And in the end, that's what all kinds of authors want to achieve, regardless if they're writing a specialized book or a simple e-mail.
I'm not sure if his writing style is considered appropriate in scientific publications (especially by my superiors, I think the scientific community can be quite flexible), but I am convinced it makes the written word more accessible. And in the end, that's what all kinds of authors want to achieve, regardless if they're writing a specialized book or a simple e-mail.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews