And echoing Mr. Pitt, last July, President Bush said: "The SEC currently requires the annual disclosure of a CEO's compensation. But that information is often buried in long proxy statements, and seldom seen by shareholders. I challenge every CEO in America to describe in the company's annual report -- prominently, and in plain English -- details of his or her compensation package, including salary and bonus and benefits."

OPM – Our Office of Personnel Management, long a source of frustration for those who wish to enter the Federal job market, has a new person in charge of Employment Service. Richard Whitford urged vacancy announcement writers to stop producing long, bureaucratic job postings and replace them with straightforward, plain English descriptions that entice people to work for federal agencies. "Try putting some excitement in recruitment!" His tips include:

• Use the 2nd person, "you" and
• Format announcements simply, use bullets and white space. (Sound familiar?)

At my Dept. (HHS) the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget found she increased the number of job applications for budget analyst position 5-fold by rewriting announcements using these suggestions and posting them in places familiar to non-federal workers.

• Use Rhetorical Questions. These are as familiar and engaging as Q&A's, but don't require an answer, for example, "Do you have the right background to apply for this position?"

• Use White Space and Bullets. Candidates find densely formatted text difficult and unfriendly. Use white space and bullets.

• Use Interesting Headers. Make sure headers guide the candidates to what they most need to know.

• Speak Directly to the Reader. Use the second person "you" or imperative.