Precision is kindness.

We often think of precision as a cold, technical quality. But in practice, precision is an act of kindness. It is a way of respecting the time and attention of your reader.

When we write with precision, we are doing the hard work of clarification so that our reader does not have to. We are saving them from ambiguity, from confusion, from the need to guess at our meaning. This is a generous act.

Imprecise language creates work for others. It forces them to spend their energy trying to understand what we meant, instead of engaging with our ideas. This is a subtle form of disrespect.

What this changes in practice: Before you share a piece of writing, read it from the perspective of your audience. Have you done everything you can to make your meaning clear?