Do you try to emulate Barack Obama when communicating with your colleagues or with external partners? How much thought have you given to the way you express yourself through written communication?

At an event held last month by brand and writing consultancy The Writer, three panellists warned of the consequences of bad corporate communications and opportunities in embracing plainer language – which needn’t mean dumbing down.

Thames Water learning and development manager Teresa Ewington says companies must get rid of the idea “that to sound smart you’ve got to sound complicated… if you want to appear smart, make it make sense”. Trying to match the rhetorical agility of the US president would not achieve this, she said.

“What we’ve tended to do is go for the highest common denominator,” she said of Thames Water. This includes letters saying “we sincerely apologise” and that the company will “ensure” something doesn’t happen again. No one, she pointed out, uses the word ensure in everyday life, so why not say ‘make sure’ and apologise in a truly sincere manner – by saying “we’re really sorry”, she suggested.

“Write like you talk, rather than as if it’s a 1950 Commonwealth address by the Queen,” Ewington concluded. “Something magical might happen.”

DeeDee Doke, editor of Recruiter and recruiter.co.uk, used as an example Cambridge-based IT firm Red Gate Software, who came across as genuine and down-to-earth in corporate literature. “When you see this you pretty much immediately know if you want to work with them or not,” Doke said. ‘Don’t be an a**hole’, the company implored, and also had a list of its friends and enemies – the A14, David Hasselhoff and melted choc ices among others making the enemies list.

An example of poor corporate speak, Doke said, came from a company that had sold off a section of its business. It talked of “disposing” of that part of the company in a communication to the City. How will that make staff feel, Doke asked? “I think companies that talk to the City a lot need to think about this … you’ve got to get rid of the City talk.”

Amanda Cumine, the director of communications at online firm Lastminute.com, praised retailer Tesco’s communications in the wake of a recent horsemeat scandal. The company’s strategy “absolutely smashed it”, she said. “It was real, it was honest, really sincere, really genuine.”

But there is no one-size-fits-all template, she added. If you’re hiring for Marks & Spencers, she gave as an example, the language in the job advert “has to be distinctly M&S, it can’t be Debenhams, it can’t be John Lewis”.

• What work have you done to find your corporate tone of voice? How important is it to think about how you come across as a company in your writing? Let us know via [email protected]