aybe this has happened to you: you've decided to move;vour retifement funds from youremployer's pian io another financiai institution. You've been told it's a siinple paper transferollover. fou get the paper.work. Tlee instruetions are noL simple at all. You cali tire account
rnana1er at your forrner employer ancl a-sk trer to help you fili ou1- tire forms. Even she gets confu,sed.
do 1'e11r best and rnaii the papers to the 403b agency. Three weeirs iater, ihey're returned to you. Thesays the fornes were not filled oui properly. You inake another attemp[, tils time consulting witbr,vouradvisor. Yor.l send orT the papers again. Another three weeks pass, anci ddj) vu-they're bacl< irr i'our tagain. l!ow- the eoler letter says one of the forrns is noi eomplete. Yiru rnust fill jn the missing in tolt
is,so
re-sign airci re-d,ate ever-ything. Ybu are feeling like /ob, bu'r you paiientl;v ma,ii ihe papers agair'"Tv,'o
and you get a phone eall. The tormer retireineni. plan eoordir.rator still has oire iTrore questio n for {o1ranswer it arrd al1er you hang up yoLt wond,er-whaf is going on herel
Avi Arditti, an editoi."at lioice of A.merica (VOA), iaughs rvhen he hears [his story-. V'&at's goingw-riiing, or morf acci,iraiel7, the lack r:f it. "You recognize it wiren )iou dorit see it," says Arditti, v'ho rs
irr the plain language mo-trement"
The lack of clear writing is a big issue right now-big f<rr governinent, big fur business, andbiganri- heaith professions. Foor writing creates unhappy cllstomers, a-qd costs orgariizatic-rns trme, mo a
sometimes lawsr,iits. For example, untrl 1973, when Citibanl.; revised the vrriting in its promissory not -iIll
company had spent a iot of tiine in smali ciaims court trying to collect on i,heil. It had aiscr spent a ioiiraiiriirg r:ustolnei'srrpport staff to anslver consumer qriestions about its forms and contracts (.l,lazrt-r,
Poor writing also costs lires (see "tsusiness Spotlight" article on Ctr-AD, p. i6).Good clear -writing, on ihe o'rher hand, does nore of these tiiings. Anii businesses are hu-ngry ior
ivith goocl writiilg skj1ls-businesses spend hillions annually on correcting nrrrting cleficiencies (C){'tfrA)
The plain langliage movement has been influential in helping governmeni, businesses, and irrdto write cleariy, that is, "to express ideas eoi'rectly, to express then-i weil, ancl to express them in a way tsense" (College Board, p. l9)" Ihis article explains wl"iat people rnean when they say "plainia.ngwage."
examines in more detail the impor"tanee of plain language in bu,siness and in the worl-place and.sugges
I
sirategies i-eacliers can use to encou-rage the deveiopmeni and pi'acticr: of clear writing si<ilis intheit
FFei* Lx*Sr*;i*Plain language
writing that putssidebar,"Plain Lan
FAQs"). Bypaying a
st1'le, structure, andlanguage documentinformation in a
readily understand (
that use plainwith customers save
and please and pers(Kimble, 1996-97).plain language docuinformation faster, uon the first try, andcorrectlywithout hcustomer service su
Plain languagea"dumbingdown""That's just a myth;'law professor at theLaw School in Lansilanguage is neither''baby talk'-that's jview," he says, "Plain
and effective commopposite of legalese."
teaches lawyers howclearly, says this abo
iiberate my studentsthevhave to sound
f6*s* t*q e*ri5* il!Plain writing is a
readable text. Bill Dulanguage consultant iCalifornia, puts it thithe reading level of(2) create texts for t
Understandreadabilitv. Aaffected by his or herbackground thetopic, and the persontopic. Creating textsreading ievei means
idea of readability.Readability refe
hard a document is
Ybu're probablyreadability, eithereducational backgrnoticed that Mic
t
* *f in*rja styie ofclearers first (see
rge: Tust theention to contenl,esign, a piain'ies to presentthat readers can
ig. 1). Businesses
e to communicat{roneyand time,de their readers
ustomers who re{dents can iocateerstand contentout forms
to call forrr t.
been criticized ag
information.ys Joe Kimble, a
homas M. Coolel':, Michisan. "Plailr
mbed down'northe cartoonishnguage is clear
ion-theimble,whownte morethat "I want to
m the idea thatc.
ut creatmga plain
Costa Mesa,
way: (1) find outrr audience, and
at that level.
levelandreading level is
bulary, thebrings to the
interest in ther a particular
rstanding the
to how easy orunderstand.
familiarwithuse ofvour
or because youWord automati-
cally calculates the ins level of a e
p
re
IS
1" ilclrt*ntl*'*s;Stat**:**c*ln*ti'urri*n*
3. sgr-ucCr.*r**lgnnie*e[':.r:il,*l'rer*ng rlJ,--.*.- -., lt *u.! l,-.i i:,1;;f; t:: l'Cr * i R ** d ;r* tr:r T'::*,r
: 6rigr.;r"t: l. Fr*;ntnres q}f Readatlle'Ibxt
Figure l. The features 0f readable text are listed in the order oftContent is most important, followed by style, structure, and des
, Note From "The Basics of Plain Language" by B. DuBay, B.
: Language at Work Newsletter. Retrieved November I0, 2004,I www.impact-information.c0m/impactinfo/newsletteriplworkl 1 . h
, with permission.
document afier you complete a spellingand grammar check. Word uses theFlesch scale, which bases readability onthe average sentence length in words andthe average word iength in syilables(other readability scales include Spache,
Dale-Chall, andFry INCTE, 1981])."Researchers have always said that wordlength and sentence length are the bestpredictors ofhowdifficult a document isto read," DuBay says.
To create a text that your audiencecan read, you must first know youraudience and purpose, and the readinglevel ofthat audience^
Identify audience readabilitylevels" Hoi.v do you find out the readinglevel ofyour audience? One way is to lookat what they read. If you're writing forother employees, for example, walkaround the bu ild ing and paF atteri tioit tothe size of their vocabuiary and the kincisof reading materials theyleave lyingaround the mailroom or cafeteria. Onceyou know what your audience reads, youcan gauge the readabilitylevels ofthosematerials and begin to create materiais atthat ievel.
Writing to readability levels can bechallenging. DuBay recommendsstudying and mimicking the sryle of
materials vsritierr ataudience needs. Foraudience is at the int9th-grade level, studwritten for those inBoth Reader's Digestalso written at thatpopular magazines
Iayout, type size, andas the tr:ne and laadjust readability i
the materiai. For exa
writing medical andtions, like ele.ratorpublic, write no highlevel.
Create readaeasy to read has ce
readability score) inwritten by avtiterpurpose anci audishort sentences rn
famiiiar words andvoice. The vrriting apfliendly tone, oflen u b
pronouns like you a
sounds human, andwords or unn )atthere neediess com ty.
uses
ete,
activeional yet
we Th wrltingextra
f
fyour7th-to-materialsschools.
are
withConsiderns, as wellBut also
rpose ofre
lnstruc-general
h-grade
that isbesides a
t's beent
conrplex informatiotables or charts, and
design eieir:ents (headilrgs, white space,
short paragrapl-rs, bol,Cface) and layouias iools for increasing cpmprehension(Smith, n.d.).
As l'-irnble puts it, f'Resist the urge tosounrj torma!" P.elax add be flatural (butnot too iriformall. you]r main goal is to
coilvei'y,,ur i,leas with fhe greatest
possi'bie clarity."Ybi,r can run readapiiity formulas on
ihe final te/t, trut note tFdt these formu-1as only predict readability. The ultimatetest of whether a dr:cun[6n1 is readable is
to iry it out on the inte4ded reader(l.lCTE, tgSi). "llVith $o much at stakelin mass documents, -wtry wouldn't yoritest the form or the lettEr crr the noticesthat you- sencl ou,t?" Kiilrble asks."Companies icrse tons of money Iwhenthey c{,3p';1 ."
l. ':.-:1., : : tr, : i
If coiopanies lose rIroneywhen theydistribute confi-rsing do6uments to theirclrstomer's, what cJo thcy Hain when theywrite docurneuts iit phin language? Doesplain langurge havr a cost benefiti
T'he ans-wer is " Yes"'] K imble's article'Writing lor Dollars, Writing ro Please"
lisir 25 e>,.ample, ol huw converting toplain language made good firrancial sense
and created better cLlstofner relations ingoverrrmerrt, business, arnd the legal andhealth professions. And firere's moreer.i dence frc' n rei^erences Du iiay collected :
The Ii.S. Departmerlt ofVeteransAffairs r€rrroie certain fbrm letters inplatniangsz"ge. They thqn tested the effectand lcr-Lnd that the new treiters reducedsupDori clils frum 1.5 per letter to 0.22per let tcr. The Depu rt rnent saved anesLimatei 540.000 ann Lralll.
Fcdcrll Express levised its ground^operalio,t rnanuals and saved an
estimated $400,000 the fir'st year"
Co, npu ter mai ru iaciurer Allen -
Bradie;' 19H,16te its manirals. Supportcalls decreased from 50/day to 2/nronthrDr-ri;ay, ii.cl.).
I i plaiir la nguage has so manybenefits. why isn t it morE cominon?(imble points to bad haf its and theoverrrhei r.a ing infl irence]of poor models.
"Lawyers have written poorly for fourcenturies," he says. "Lack ofgood traininghas been a problem for a long time, butin the last decade or so iaw schools havefinally started to improve their writingprograms."
Others offer different explanations"Some say that deadlines get in the way,and there's no time left to do a good edit.Sometimes people don't realize howunclear their writing really is (this usuallyhappens when writers forget to thinkabout their audience). Sometimes peoplefeel that if they write too plainly, theirpeers will think they're not smart. Yet noone ever complains that a document wastoo easy to read!
As businesses realize the cost of poorwriting and the benefits of plain, they areoffering or requiring training for saiaried
employees vrho have
Estimated trainingbillion annuaiiy (Co
The NationalWritingconducted a
leaders and asked tirnportance of writingThe titie of their reporWriting: A Ticket toOut (Fig.2).
According to theskills can make or bis not only a thresholdgatekeeper. A threshowriting skills can keepbeing hired. A gate
i
80
70 1
uol
o--oo .^o- 4U-
30
Figure 2. Letters A through E correspond to the percentages
A. Percent of companies that take writing into consideration whenmake promotion decisions
B. Percent 0f salaried employees in large American corporationsresponsibilities in their job
C. Percent 0f FIRE (service and finance, insurance, and real estate)assess writing during hiring
D" Percent of companies that "frequently" orE. Percent 0f companies that require training
deficiencies
"always" produce re
for salaried emp
ffofe. From "Writing: A Tic4et to Work . . . 0r a Ticket Ouf" by thesion on Writing, College Entrance Examination Board, 2004, Septe
10126104 f rom http://www.writingcomm issi0n.org/p rod_down I
writin g-ticketto-work.pdf
II.lol
0l
siness
a Ticket
tingWriting
use poormuse
mrs-
ml
I
ng
d until
the cfiarri;e in yo$i' enrollment status during This letisr is about the change in yo
ir :iepiember 1, 1996. lf the change was due cJuring ihe perioil that begari on Sebeynnd youi"$ontrol, please notify us as Because af this change, we may har
thei'wise , you m{y be held responsible for an than you were due.
What 0ur Heeords $howYou reducecl :four credit l-r0urs i'rOnihours on Nc'rienri.rerr 5, lggii.
What We trld
aclditicnai overp[yment of benefits.
cne 0r. more coufses on November 5, 1996
rri har; heen iedufed effective December 1,
We reduced )/our layments an [e$2t)2.C0 per nicnth. YcLr vyill receiveabout this cnange, The letter vyill s
debt.
::Wei: sitri has lot$ of resoui'ces. llere's how to get them:2
i;ncrLia,qe.ctov
ollrrr t
y0
rnt1 996.m0re
!pir'i ;*ti '1,,"i$:.f irr g ir,r'3r
"IPeoplej don't t ink of wriiing as democratie craft, lthey] think o{ it as a fineart," says Roy
Florida. "lf weClark, senior s holar at the Poynter lnstitute, St. Petersburg,
ht writing mcre s a democratic craft, then all writers wouldwrite vrtith g civic clarity, wha ever the audience happens to be."
Clark will be ng 25 years ith the Poynter lnstitute in 2005, and he wantsto celebrate. So
Writing Clearl1,."
anel the lnstitut are considering declaring 2005 "The Year ofguidelines:
' Control the e of infornrationi
Lift the heavy rgo out of text hnd into images. For example, instead ofwriting a pa raph of directi0nF on getting to your h0use, use a map.
r lntroduce di ult concepts onCI at a time.
repeat-ihe mo$t impodant stuff.r Repeat, rep
r Unclutter sto , paragrauhs, ahd sentences.
r Engage the in a conversqtion.
r Make judici
give them the
p.rod*
Plain I-anguage
specictlizinr incart he rencled via
conversation
Use only the
Translate jarg
use of the secold person (you, your). lt turns language into
st important numbers.
ray water, write, 'lln times of drought you may be wateringtreated sewage."
Charl a chro 0gy: teli things i11 the order they happened. Use words likeetc.first, next, the
, Keep the bor"i striff shrtrt.
r Reward the r er...after a borirlg paragraph, bring the writing back to iife.
Find the inicr the small world that represents the bigger world. Forr writing about flowntown redevelopment after the hurri-one place vou think represents everything else that's going
Hochhauser and
. Look for the man example.
Reveal the ic imparl of thq thing you're writing about. For example, ifwriting aboutyour lawn wi
example , if yo
cane, take me0n.
lf it's hard io derstand, let the feader in on it. Use this sentence: "Here's
format to explairi.
how it works."
or by pharrc ar 703.7.
tran"cferring yourone institution tostudents plain lan'well turn thcnr
nb
r'{**F,:; *itE:*1College Board,sion on Writing. (
Wr"iting: A ticlcetottt: A survey ofbirieved Octr:berww.w.writingcom
ticket-tc-wori<.DuBay, B. (n.d.)
\t{ritin,u,.ketrifioit irttp://wwwnelwori<.c,;rglki
\\azttr,lj. (2000).ianguage. Techn
Supporl for the leo.
English. R.etr:ieved
frotnhttp:llv.rwv'r.About_l'JC'fE/Iss
idetr,"ork. (n.d.)glance. In Plainlafools. F.etrie,zed
frorn http://wr,wir.
I l.lot her real name.I As of press times, ildiscontirrueci. See h
potential r-rpdartes.
Thanirs to readabiliry
scholar l)r. Ro-r Peter
conti'ibutecl to this
loame Lozar Glennand eriuctttor hased irt
funds froming
mayveryniuses, and
. or a ticketRe-
http://
ofptainr9,2004,
ts.htmfor dollars,
rnalofLegal4,2A04,ge
1.pdf
ton.
teaching ofr 19,2004,rarylfileslity.pdf
[ormationhata
language2004,
.gov
Marksenior
also
wrtterVirginia,
Shecom
t)
sl
in
lrtngnge.Itetrifrornhttp:l lvswvr. for-maticrn.com/iin
KimL,le, I.0996-9writing to please.
l,]etrieved l.lovem , fromhttp ://w',r,'v;.plainrevisiting.htm
/hotstuff/
l.lCTE {}'Tatir-rnal hers ofEngiish). (ie81). : Concep-tions and.misco TE:
www.adler17,20A4, httpJl
l:i:t., :i'-.-l'.
0rganizations
lnternational Assoc
p rofess io n ai's g u !de to
York: Perigree Books (a
Strunk, Jt-., i/V., et al. (
Longman Publishing
Arlicles and Reports
Baenen, J. i2004. Oct
berj. Writinc ; A {icket taIeaders. Retrieved
of Business Commi.lnicators, www.iabc.com
iation
iting better letters, Snemos, and reparts.Newivision of Putnam).
The elements of,style (Arh ed.). Essex, UK:
trk . . . or a ticket Qut: A survey of business26, 20A4,from http://www.writingcom-
plain language. ftchnical Cammunicati0n4, f rom http:/wwlru.plainlanguage.gov/
1 4). 9/1 1 report is up for Nationai Book Veterans Benefits Administiation. in.d.), 6Award. [Vashington Retrieved Novemb0r 17, 2004, from and typagraphy t0 create effective emphasis.Rwww.washingtonpostlang uage=pri nter
p-dvniA31 08720040ct1 3? 2004, f rom http://v'rww.plainlanguag
College Board, The Na al Commission on MVriting. (20M, Septern-Veterans Benefits Administration . (n.d.j. Testing
The National Commi on Writing, www.
and lnformationThe Plain Language
language.gov
The Plain Language
network.org
The Poynter lnstitute,
Reference Books
poynter.org
Flatiey, M., & Lesikar, R.
Skills far empoweringMcGravu-Hill Publishing
Schwart, H. (197S). ta look good an p4per: The business
the world. Clarity 47. Retrieved I'Jovember 17,
mission.org www.adler.dem on.co. uli/clarityldownioads/47. pdf
, www.plain- How-To
Canada National Literacy Secretariat. (1994). Plain
, www.plainlanguage- t rai n i n g. Retrieved Novem ber 4, f rom http ://wwwnetwork.0rg/plaintrainiindex. html
Federal Register. (n.d.). Drafting legal documents.4, 2 A 04, tron http://www,archives.
d raft in g_legal_d ocuments/draft ing_legal_
Plain Language Action and lnformation Network. (
plain English. Retrieved 0ctober 10, 2004, fromlanguage.gov/
Wagneq E. (2002). Editor's note: Plain language ca
Plain Language Action and lnformation Network. (
at a glance. ln Plain language: Plain languageNovern ber 1 0, 2004, f rom http ://www. plainlang
Plain Language Action and lnformation Network. (n
friendl.v documenfs. Retrieved Novemi:er 4, 2004,www. plainlan g uage. gov/handbook/i ndex. htm
Retrieved November 4, 2004, f rom http://wv'rwhowto/test.htm
Technology Toolsl
Bullf ighte12
"Stripping the Buil Out cf Business"Deloitte Consulting - http://www.deloitie.co0,2332,sid%3D27374,00.htm1
GoToMeeting"The hlext Generation in 0nline Meetings"
Citrix 0nline - http://www.gotomeeting.coml
lnspiration
A tool for developing ideas and organizing thinkingI nspi ration Software, I nc. - www. insp iration. com
Markin
RefWorks
Web-based database and bibliography creatorRefworks - www. refworks.com
1 This list does not imply an endorsement by eitherNBEA,2 As of press time, Bullfighter has been discontinueddeloitte.com for potential updates.
mission.org/'prod_downl i ng-ticket-to-work.pdf
Kimble, J. i2003,50. Retrieved Novemberclarity/downloads/50. pdf
Kimble, J. (2003, Aprii 1 \. Answering the c\tics of plain languageRetrieved November 4,
kimble/critics.htm, f rom www.plainlanguagenetwork.orgi
Kimble, J. (1s96*97). g for dollars, wrifiing to please. Scribesrieved November]+, :004, from http://
Retrieved November'1 9,
hotstuff/revisiting. htm
NCTE iNationai Council Teachers of . i1981). ReadabiliU:Conceptions and mi, ions. SLATE: for the learning andteaching of English. November 1 9, , from http://www.ncte.or pdf
Skelton, L. (2003, May). to be streetwise the audienceClarif,v 49 Retrieved hl
J o u rnal of Legal W riti ng.
. org/kim ble/1#ritirl g 1 .pd{
Kinsman, l.il. (2004, 3). Gootl (and bqd)writing skills standout in wcrkplace. Ifiefrom http:/lwww.si
-Tri b u n e. Retrieved November 17, 2004,ie0o. com/news/birsiness/kinsman/ Software for marking student writing; saves "com
20041 003-9S99-1 b ran.html Creative Technology Ltd. - http ://www.cict.coindex.htm
Mazur, B. (2000). Revisil
lei"). The elements 0f plain language. Ctarity7, 20A1,f rom http:{www.adler.demon.co.uk/