Use short, simple words

Vocabulary choice is an important part of communicating clearly. While there is no problem with being expressive, most federal writing has no place for literary flair. People do not curl up in front of the fire with a nice federal regulation to have a relaxing read. 

Bureaucratic writing is often stodgy, full of long, dry legalisms and other jargon. Federal writing is no exception. H.W. Fowler summed up these recommendations for making word choices in his influential book, The King’s English, first published in 1906. He encouraged writers to be more simple and direct in their style (quoted in Kimble, 2006).

• Prefer the familiar word to the far-fetched.
• Prefer the concrete word to the abstraction.
• Prefer the single word to the circumlocution.
• Prefer the short word to the long.
• Prefer the Saxon word to the Romance.

Wydick (2005) gives us a great example. Here’s a typical bureaucratic construction:

The water was impacted by his rod, whereupon a polluting effect was achieved. The consequent toxification reduced the conditions necessary for the sustenance of the indigenous population of aquatic vertebrates below the level of viability. Olfactory discomfort standards were substantially exceeded, and potability declined. Social, economic, and political disorientation were experienced to an unprecedented degree.

And the original, using stronger, simpler words:

He lifted up the rod and smote the waters of the river . . . and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.  And the fish that were in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

In making your word choices, pick the familiar or frequently used word over the unusual or obscure. There are many lists of complex words and suggested substitutes, for example http://plainlanguage.gov/howto/wordsuggestions/simplewords.cfm. See also the lists in Kimble (2006).