Direct, Succinct, Uncomplicated

When speechwriter Peggy Noonan wrote Reagan's Challenger address, she said she knew she had "to do a speech that is aimed at those who are 8 years old, and those who are 18, and those who are 80 without patronizing anybody" (source).

Dang. That's a tall order.

It was going be a short speech, and it had to cover a lot of material without becoming too complex. She used vocabulary that is straightforward and unambiguous. The language is based in the everyday, and as a result, its ideas come across as open and sincere.

Here's a good example of what Peggy was talking about:

We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue. (34-36)

Got all that? See, we told you it was pretty straightforward.