This is something that 90% of the world is already doing the right thing on today, but 10% of the world isn’t. This is for you 10%’rs if you want to communicate as effectively as possible with the 90% of us.

Let’s consider two sentences:

One needs to grab the audiences’ attention at the beginning of a speech.

You need to grab the audiences’ attention at the beginning of a speech.

They’re both saying the same thing, right? Yes and no. The idea is the same, but the sentences create a slightly different mood. In almost all cases you’re better off with the “you” rather than the “one.”

Why? Even if he’s in front of a hundred people and not making eye contact with me at that moment, when a speaker says “You need to grab…” at some level I’m picturing it being me needing to do the grabbing. On the other hand, who exactly is this “one” fellow? I know you’re talking about me intellectually, but it’s just not the same in my gut. You need the audience actively imagining themselves being the doer - the “you” - since most of us go off the gut more than we realize.

The brainer types seem more likely to use the “one.” I’m guessing it’s because they read brainy books, especially older ones, written using the passive all over the place. Speaking is different than writing. Unless an author starts every other sentence with “One should do so and so”, I probably won’t realize it. But most people don’t talk like that, even in formal speeches, and I will notice if they speak like that. It doesn’t matter how high brow the speech is, you almost always want to avoid the passive.

“One” once in a while is OK if you’re going for variety or trying for the formal feel. I’m really not trying to dumb the world down by convincing people to stop reading old books!

The really big exception to this is if you’re British. For some reason it seems natural when they say something like, “One drinks tea after playing croquet.” I doubt though that the British really care what an American has to say on any subject, especially when the subject is the English language, so one need not be a genius to realize I should stop here.