The Awards are coming! The Awards are coming!
Here’s an opportunity to spend a wonderful evening with other plain language advocates and practitioners. Each year, the Center for Plain Language gives the ClearMark Award to print and online information that is easy for the public to understand and use.
March Grammar Madness: Commas Win in an Upset!
It’s March Grammar Madness at Healthwise. We’re mad about clear communication—and isn’t that the primary purpose of grammar?
So, just like the hoops fans who get into the college basketball spirit, we celebrated National Grammar Day (March 4) with a bracket. It’s all about sustaining the commitment to plain language—and scoring points with employees.
Love and plain language
I love my wife. I tell her so several times a day. When we wake up, on the phone, when we get home from work, before we drift off to sleep. The day just doesn’t feel complete without it.
On Valentine’s Day, however, we won’t do anything special. No office deliveries of long-stemmed red roses. No Hallmark greeting card with ready-made sentiments to express what I am (apparently) incapable of expressing on my own. And no making reservations at a hoity-toity restaurant weeks in advance to dine on an overpriced prix fixe menu.
Building a plain language culture in the US Government
I’ve spent the last few months working on the 2014 Federal Plain Language Report Card. The Report Card evaluates whether U.S. Federal Departments comply with the Plain Writing Act of 2010. This year we also analyzed writing samples against best practices for both writing and information design.
Writing for dollars
I work at a science-based regulatory agency. It can be tough to sell plain language to people who have graduate degrees in an area that I’m not a specialist in. The fact that I’m working with government scientists can make the pitch even harder. I’ve got two types of jargon and socialization to break through.
But one of the best things about working with scientists is that they trust expertise and evidence. If you give them evidence to prove your point, they tend to listen.
Filling the empathy gap: Learning to be clear in belgium
Each year, hundreds of passionate plain-language professionals from all over the world converge on a cool city to share the latest findings and advancements in our field. Vancouver, D.C., Lisbon, Sydney. You get the gist.
This November, a number of Center for Plain Language members and leaders traveled to Antwerp and Brussels for a joint conference hosted by IC Clear and Clarity.
Make your prose lean in 2015
At the start of a new year, like many of us, I groan with the post-holiday feeling of having eaten more chocolate and cheese—and exercised less—than I should. I feel the burden, real or imagined, of excess calories slowing me down. And now that the parties are over, the holiday candles back in boxes, the red and green sweaters safely stowed, I’m eager to refocus and trim down, leaner and sleeker than the year before.
Teaching Plain Language: 5 Challenges
One of my professional roles is to teach legal writing. And in spite of what you might think, most of us who teach legal writing try to teach law students to use plain language (to some degree or another). But term after term, I’m dismayed at the final assignments’ lack of plain language. So what’s standing in the way? I’ve identified 5 obstacles here, although I’m sure there are others. Whether you’re a plain-language coach, some other kind of teacher, or someone who’s just trying to get people to climb on the plain-language train, maybe some of the suggestions here will help. Although some of them focus on legal writing, I’m sure you can draw analogies to your own field.
December 4 webinar will help you prepare for the 2015 ClearMark Awards
The 2015 ClearMark Awards will be here before we know it — and we want to make sure you have all the details you need before the entry period begins on January 1, 2015. If you have questions about your nomination or the Awards in general, register for our first-ever webinar on Thursday, December 4 at 12:00 p.m. ET.
We’ll provide advice to help you ensure your application stands out — and has all the necessary information. And, we’ll have an open Q&A period where you can find answers to any lingering questions you may have.
Informed consent – or is it really informed??
We have all done it. Gone for a medical or dental test or procedure. Not looking forward to it, a bit nervous about it. And then someone on the staff gives you some papers to sign authorizing the procedure. Often they simply say, “Sign here,” and seem puzzled when you take the time to read it.
Emotional responses to financial information
According to the recent Edelman Trust Barometer (2013 Annual Global Study: Financial Services Industry Findings), U.S. trust in financial institutions is at a low of