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Gowers took the civil service by storm in the fifties, with his handy pamphlets on why and how public servants should write plainly. Here are my top five favourites of his delightful observations.

I can’t tell you how to master Jedi mind tricks or how to manipulate people’s thoughts like Derren Brown. But what I can tell you is that when you’re trying to influence someone, its crucial to choose the right words and phrasing.

We can’t expect our elected representatives to understand the relationship we have with them – or more importantly the relationship we should have with them – if we allow them and the media to use this kind of language.

As I continue trying to get my head around how to communicate with my dog, I find it useful to remember that my everyday methods of communicating with my own species are not the place to start.

Refuse to get yourself all dirty by using a human word like ‘sorry’. This is a bad word.