Plain language supports science communication
I love helping scientists translate tech talk into plain language. Often the editing process goes smoothly, but sometimes, they have reservations. The fears I hear most often involve dumbing down the information, or, oversimplifying it. “Those are common complaints,” says Dr. Lisa DiPinto, Senior
Scientist at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and one of my colleagues, in the Office of Response and Restoration.
Preventable Harm
When communication isn’t clear, the result is burden. In health care this burden is often borne by someone who is already carrying rocks in their pack (feeling sick, worried or exhausted). Now, in addition to missing work, paying for medications and doing what it takes to heal, energy must go to deciphering unnecessarily complex information. Common examples include care instructions, medical bills or conversations with providers (“What did the doctor say?”).
The importance of plain language for content creation
Information flows freely and quickly in our modern world. With so much news that we receive every day it is important to keep things simple. Plain language plays the key role in that regard. It uses clear sentences and basic phrases, helping people to understand the message instantly.
Good policy needs more than 140 characters
President Trump’s recent announcement, via a series of tweets, of a new “policy” regarding transgender individuals serving in the military resulted in questions and concerns raised on many fronts.
In response to the President’s tweets, the Joint Chiefs issued a message recognizing that there were “questions” about the announcement and assuring that, “There will be no modifications to the current policy until the President’s direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidance.”
Volunteer Recognition: Lee Clark Johns
How are we doing? That’s the question that prompted my easy “yes” when I was asked to judge entries for the ClearMark Awards. After three years as a judge (the last two as head judge), I can assert, “We – plain language practitioners and products – are doing fine!”
Plain Talk in Complex Times 2017
The MAXIMUS Center for Health Literacy is holding its sixth Plain Talk in Complex Times conference on August 30 at the Renaissance Washington, D.C. Downtown Hotel. This one-day conference is designed to build and sharpen your communication skills. Plain Talk is your opportunity to learn best strategies for consumer engagement from experienced professionals.
Plain Language has a clear place in academic writing
For two years, I worked as a college writing center tutor while enrolled in a graduate professional writing program. Over those two years, I studied, practiced, and helped others with clear writing. While the papers I read every day in the writing center ranged from argumentative essays, persuasive essays, and research papers, to more creative, narrative essays, they all had one thing in common: they were written for a target audiience—a professor. And from assignment conception to finished product, plain language played a significant role.
6 Plain English principles for writing perfect Web content
Sometimes, being precise and straight to the point is the best way to be when it comes to writing. Nowadays, our screens and content, both on and offline, are dominated by written words. In a world where attention spans can sometimes surprisingly surpass a few seconds if you’re writing web content, you need to grab your reader, and fast.
Financial literacy isn’t enough
I read an important Letter to the Editor in The Charlotte Observer by Dr. Michael Sass, who is President of Catalyst Academy, a financial education non-profit. While I am very impressed with the mission of CATALYST and understand its importance, I do have an issue about one of his points in the letter. He writes: “Citizens should be investing only in financial products they fully understand…” However, in my experience, almost no average person understands much about the vehicles in which they invest.
A note of thanks — and a few good things we’ve done
Now that we have another round of ClearMark Awards behind us – phew – I’d like to take a moment to thank our sponsors and donors who make it possible for the Center to stay in business. THANK YOU! Your support has helped us do so many things – here are just a few highlights.
Scribes Establishes the Joseph Kimble Distinguished Service Award
By Legal Writing Prof Scribes – The American Society of Legal Writers – has renamed its Distinguished Service Award as the Joseph Kimble Distinguished Service
A Renewed Appreciation for the Power of Plain Language: What I learned as a ClearMark Award judge
In years past, I have participated with Healthwise colleagues in the development and selection of products we wanted to submit for a ClearMark Award—an award that celebrates excellence in plain language communication. We have received Clearmark awards many of the years that we submitted entries, but not every time. This year, we didn’t submit an entry because we didn’t have something significantly different to submit than we’ve done in previous years. But I was invited to participate as a judge on the panel evaluating Spanish-language entries.