Plain Language Primer

We have all been the victims of bureaucratic writing. We've had to read a sentence or a paragraph over and over to try to understand what the writer was saying or deciphered instructions only to exclaim, “Why didn't they just say that? It's so simple!” Plain language writing is the art of stating things clearly. Its goal is to make the writer understood. It does not make language dull or insult the reader's intelligence, but it avoids “fancy language” when a “plain” expression will do.

Plain writing can make your organization better understood by the people who use it. It is useful when serving people with low literacy skills, but it helps all of us to avoid misunderstandings and ambiguities. This plain language primer will help you present information about your organization clearly, to the benefit of people with a wide range of reading skills.

Look at Your Forms and Materials

Ask someone who doesn't know your organization well to take a critical look at the kind of materials and forms you give to the people who use your services. Let the person know that you are not testing him or her, but that you want to kiiow whether you have stated things clearly and whether your paperwork is easy to use.

You can also determine which of your forms and materials might need changes by checking with staff to find out which material raises the most questions. A lot of follow-up questions may mean that the information is not stated clearly or that more information should be included in your brochure.

If you don't feel able to do a wholesale revision of your written materials, take a look at the list of items that are scheduled to be revised and reprinted over the next year or so. Then build in time to approach each written product from a plain language perspective. It takes time to write simply. Try to take the time you need.

One organization found that it had to train its staff members and volunteers to use the new forms it had designed. If your staff needs training to understand your materials, how can people who are using your services for the first time be expected to handle them?

Be prepared to hear that your forms look complicated and that the information seems boring. If you ask a person to paraphrase what they learned in reading your information, you may find that people don't really understand what you're trying to say. If the news is bad, take heart. Making your organization better understood can bring you extra benefits. Here are some suggestions you might find helpful.

Ease the Paper Burden

You may be used to saying everything about your organization in written pamphlets, but could you use video or audio tapes? A reception-area video can play repeatedly to let people know how your organization works. Posted drawings and photos can do the same job, perhaps for less money.

Audio tapes can be used instead of pamphlets to let people know more about their legal rights or how their eligibility for government benefits is determined, for example. You may want to set up a listening library for use on your premises or on a homeloan basis. Audio tapes can supplement or reinforce the information in your pamphlets.

Where paper-based information is needed, try to use pictures, graphics and, of course, simple text to get your message across.

Keep it simple

Try not to write information geared toward the public in the same kind of language used by your staff everyday. The technical terms and bureaucratic procedures that are second nature to people working in an organization are often meaningless to the uninitiated. When writing pamphlets, letters, instructions and other materials, keep the following plain language principles in mind.

Limit each sentence and paragraph to a single idea

If you find yourself writing something like, “Follow the abovementioned routine daily for the first week, taking care not to exceed the number of repetitions prescribed,” try instead to separate the ideas. In one sentence, advise people to follow the daily routine for one week. Then, in the next sentence tell them what they are to do after that. What happens in the second week? And thereafter?

The warning about not exceeding the number of prescribed repetitions should be mentioned separately. If the warning is important, you may want to highlight it by placing it first in the instructions or, at least, giving it its own paragraph, perhaps also explaining why the warning should be heeded.

Use short sentences, simple words

Beware the run-on sentence! It is easier for people to focus on a single idea at a time. A sentence such as, “In the event that provisions are inadequate for the initial period, you may request special emergency supplies, which are limited to essential items and which can only be provided under extraordinary conditions,” has too many thoughts and probably more information than the person could possibly need. A number of improvements can be made:

• Words such as “provisions,” and “inadequate,” and expressions such as “initial period,” and “special emergency supplies” can easily be replaced with more common, more easily understood terms. If the “provisions” are food, say food. Doesn't “in the event” really mean “if”? Try, “If you don't have enough food for the first two weeks, you can ask for more.”
• Don't say “initial period” if you are talking about two weeks or another set period of time. Always use the clearer term. And don't vary the terms you use to try to make things interesting. It is easier for people to understand things when terms are used consistently. We also remember more when important information, such as “two weeks” is repeated in a text.

If you must use a difficult word, try defining it in the same sentence or the next: “The median age of workers will rise to 38 over the next ten years: With 50 per cent of workers over age 38, employers will have to consider training programs for older workers.”

Keep paragraphs short. Even if one idea has to be discussed at length, divide the information into short paragraphs, each containing an important element. Compare these two notices:

All recreation facilities are to be kept neat and orderly. Users are asked to return equipment to storage bins located at the north end of the exercise area after each session. Report any equipment damage to the facilities manager. Keeping these facilities and sports equipment in good repair is the responsibility of all members. Please do your part.

All recreation facilities are to be kept neat and orderly.

Users are asked to return equipment to storage bins located at the north end of the exercise area after each session. Report any equipment damage to the facilities manager.

Keeping these facilities and sports equipment in good repair is the responsibility of all members. Please do your part.

The second presentation of this information highlights the instructions regarding the storage of equipment and the reporting of any damage. It looks easier to read because the block of text is less dense.

Organize your ideas

Say the most important thing first. For each paragraph, each section of a pamphlet or a letter, there is one idea you most want to get across. Say it first.

Members are asked not to leave wallets in unprotected lockers. If you leave your wallet in a locker, use a combination lock, Five people have had their wallets stolen in the past two weeks.

Compare that to:

In the past two weeks, five people have had their wallets stolen from the locker area. Please take your wallet with you or use a combination lock on your locker to protect your belongings.

In the first example, members may wonder why they are being asked to change their habits. If they are not told at the beginning that there has been a security problem, they may not bother reading the whole note. State your main point first.

Use informal language

Bureaucratic language is everywhere. For some reason, people often prefer to say things in complicated ways, perhaps because they believe it sounds more official. You have probably seen sentences like this:

Incarceration is the usual consequence of repeated criminal behavior by juveniles.

The ideas can be stated more simply:

Young people who break the law more than once or twice usually end up in jail.

The second phrasing probably does the job as well as the sentence above, but it uses simpler language and it puts first things first. The sentence deals with young people, so they are mentioned first. Going to jail is the result of breaking the law, so the idea of jail follows the idea of breaking the law. Putting ideas in logical order helps people make sense of what you're saying.

Another example:

Salary demands from the union are being considered by management.

Compare this to:

Management is considering the union's salary demands.

The key idea is that the demands are under consideration, so that should be stated first. It is clearer to state the “union's demands” rather than the “demands of the union.” “Management is considering” is more easily understood than “are being considered by management.”

Informal language just helps us be understood. It shouldn't change the sense of what you want to say. Being informal doesn't mean using slang expressions. Try to use proper language and grammar. The rules of language usually help us to be better understood, after all.

Use drawings, pictures, graphics and caution

It may be helpful to use a picture instead of words when this can be done, but be careful about the images you use. There may be cultural sensitivities among the people who use your services. Make sure that symbols that are familiar to you mean the same thing to them. The easiest way to find this out is to test your drawings with some of your clients or customers. If a drawing or image is not clear to people, don't use it. It may only confuse matters.

Avoid stereotypes, respect differences

Make sure that your information portrays women, men and people from cultural, racial and religious minority groups in a positive, nonstereotypical way. It is important that the people who use your services see themselves in your literature and that that portrayal be positive.

If your services are offered in more than one language, make sure your literature is too. Try to ensure that translations are of high quality, that they are written in plain language and that they reflect your intended meaning. Get a staff member or client to review all language versions to compare the meaning of the materials.

Appearances Count

People are more likely to read materials that are pleasing to look at and don't seem to require a lot of effort to read. You can give your materials this appearance by using small blocks of text, a large print size, graphic designs where appropriate and highlighting for important information.

The following text buries important information:

A résumé is the job hunter's most important tool. It sums up all your experience, abilities and skills in ways that will interest employers. We'll help you organize information about your work experience, volunteer work, education, and training in ways that can get results! For example. did you realize that experience in volunteer work such as coaching a children's sports team, collecting donations for charity, and organizing fund-raising events can help you find a job? We'll show you how to make the most of the skills you have.

It can be reorganized to say the same things, but in a more pleasing way:

A résumé is the job hunter's most Important tool. It sums up all your experience, abilities, and skills in ways that will interest employers. We'll help you organize information about your:

• work experience,
• volunteer work,
• education, and
• training

in ways that can get results!

For example, did you realize that experience in volunteer work such as:

• coaching a children's sports team,
• collecting donations for charity, and
• organizing fund-raising events can help you find a job? We'll show you how to make the most of the skills you have.

Don't overuse highlighting. Use it to draw attention to the most important points you are making.

Use point form for lists of items that are all related to one idea. Point form is most effective for series of brief phrases, but it can also help to break up text when you are presenting a number of lengthier ideas related to one theme.

When listing ideas in point form, try to avoid single, long lists. It is easier to understand and remember two to four items in a list than it is to deal with twenty. If you have twenty things that must be mentioned, try to group similar items together. Compare the following lists:

Campers will require the following equipment:

• Sleeping Bag
• Dishes
• Ground sheet
• Cutlery
• Air mattress
• Fishing equipment
• Waterproof duffle bag
• Warm clothing with identification labels
• Cooking utensils

Campers will require the following equipment:

Bedding:

• Sleeping bag
• Ground sheet
• Air mattress

Clothing:

• Warm clothing with identification labels
• Waterproof duffle bag

Food preparation:

• Cooking utensils
• Dishes
• Cutlery

Other:

• Fishing equipment

Avoid using very small type sizes and consider any special needs of your target audiences when designing your information materials.

Keep to Form

The use of some forms is inevitable. Make sure that the forms you use are as simple and straightforward as possible. Could you get by with asking for people's “Name” instead of “Surname, Given Name, and Initials,” for example? Leave lots of room for people to write the answers to your questions and don't ask information you can do without. If some of the questions you have to ask simply cannot be worded in brief phrases using basic language, you may be better off saving them for interviews with counsellors. It may be easier to explain what the questions mean in person instead of on paper.

With plain language materials, your organization may be more successful in reaching the people you want to serve. You may find that you have to spend less time explaining things that have already been covered in writing. And there may be fewer misunderstandings about your procedures and practices. There can be big payoffs for a little plain talk.