tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23975560060095362202024-03-13T07:46:25.943-07:00Standard of excellenceJudy Knightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10188219980587822919noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-67123368189329092542014-11-24T19:05:00.000-08:002014-11-24T19:05:49.174-08:00Who will win the race for clarity?<div class="MsoNormal">
Who’s the clearest of them all? Which organisation best
understands the need for clarity in communication?<o:p></o:p></div>
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It's the ninth year in the life of the Plain English Awards. This year again saw a great bunch of entries with 122 across 12 categories. The <a href="http://plainenglishawards.org.nz/2014-awards-finalists/" target="_blank">list of finalists</a> is
out and the wait is nearly over — we’ll know the winners on 27 November.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vQpZ3Pj8rJo/VHPxrIOMk5I/AAAAAAAAACM/1gAvlpjSayM/s1600/WriteMark%2B2014%2BAwards%2Blogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vQpZ3Pj8rJo/VHPxrIOMk5I/AAAAAAAAACM/1gAvlpjSayM/s1600/WriteMark%2B2014%2BAwards%2Blogo.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>Showing their dedication to clarity</h3>
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The finalist organisations are united by their dedication to
clarity in communication. They understand that communicating clearly and simply
contributes to their success, and they walk the talk. Clear communication shows
they respect and understand their audiences and readers, and it builds goodwill.
These organisations also know that clear communication can increase their
bottom line.<o:p></o:p></div>
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‘The Awards encourage organisations to show they care about
communicating honestly and clearly,’ says Gregory Fortuin, Chair of the
WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust. </div>
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‘Making the effort to communicate in
plain English can make a difference to the lives of many people.’ <o:p></o:p></div>
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Categories in the Awards honour documents and websites — and
the people who write them. And members of the public have joined in the push for
plain English by nominating good and bad documents in the People’s Choice
category.</div>
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<h3>
Making a difference to the bottom line</h3>
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Clear communication is an important contributor to an
organisation’s success. For example, last year’s grand prize winner, the
Ministry of Social Development, reduced the number of phonecalls from welfare
clients needing to clarify a point from an average 25% to just 2.5%. Fewer phonecalls
means money saved, and less pressure on the call centre.</div>
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The spokesman for the Environmental Protection Authority
said he’d been complimented for their winning entry: ‘…getting fan mail for a
government publication is something of a rarity.’<o:p></o:p></div>
Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-29061750793623389532014-10-09T11:37:00.000-07:002014-10-09T14:48:17.897-07:00Ernest Hemingway: Cutting back words with infinite care<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rqss7lTuzu0/VDbWJpCWYGI/AAAAAAAAAAk/c2ZeOcdqI3A/s1600/Hemingway%2BOld%2BMan%2B%26%2BSea.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rqss7lTuzu0/VDbWJpCWYGI/AAAAAAAAAAk/c2ZeOcdqI3A/s1600/Hemingway%2BOld%2BMan%2B%26%2BSea.jpg" /></a><br />
<b>An author of magnificent style</b><br />The late American author Ernest Hemingway has delighted millions of readers with his writing talent. Novels such as The Old Man and the Sea, A Farewell to Arms and A Moveable Feast are all considered literary classics. His skill earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.<div>
<br />Hemingway’s writing style had an enormous influence on 20th century literature. He was recognised for his sparse writing technique – for ‘trimming the verbal fat’ off his work. Hemingway called his style the ‘iceberg theory’: the facts floated above water; the supporting structure and symbolism operated out of sight. <br /><br /><b>Cutting back words with infinite care</b><br />Hemingway described his technique as similar to polishing gemstones.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
‘I take great pains with my work, pruning and revising with a tireless hand. I have the welfare of my creations very much at heart. I cut them with infinite care, and burnish them until they become brilliants. What many another writer would be content to leave in massive proportions, I polish into a tiny gem’.</blockquote>
<b>The Hemingway App</b><br />Such is the recognition for the power of Hemingway’s style that an app was recently created in his name. <a href="http://www.hemingwayapp.com/">Hemingway</a> analyses text and suggests ways to make writing ‘bold and clear’. It highlights complicated words and sentences. It helps to eliminate unnecessary adverbs and the use of passive voice. It’s certainly a useful tool worth consulting.<br /><br />For more information about Ernest Hemingway, visit: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway">Ernest Hemingway Wikipedia</a><br /><br />An article about the Hemingway app: <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/hemingway-takes-the-hemingway-test">New Yorker Hemingway App</a><br /><br />Link to the Hemingway app: <a href="http://www.hemingwayapp.com/">Hemingwayapp</a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eLIwo9VnCS0/VCOQwGF335I/AAAAAAAAAL4/rBU2dlSRxMg/s1600/contractburnt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eLIwo9VnCS0/VCOQwGF335I/AAAAAAAAAL4/rBU2dlSRxMg/s1600/contractburnt.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a></div>
House insurance, travel insurance, and vehicle insurance were the topics of many of the complaints. These types of insurance are common and many people have one or more of these policies. As long as everything is going well and they don't need to claim against their policy, they might not look too closely at the details.<br />
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But when something happens and they turn to the policy document, they might get a surprise. Suddenly the wording doesn't seem clear. They make their claim, but the answer isn't what they expected.<br />
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If they take their case further, it might become one of the 3,000+ complaints that the Insurance and Savings Ombudsman has to deal with. Many claims stem directly or indirectly from the way the information is communicated.<br />
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<h3>
A global survey finds support for clearer communication</h3>
Ernst & Young's <a href="http://www.ey.com/gl/en/industries/financial-services/insurance/global-consumer-insurance-survey-2012" target="_blank">Global Consumer Insurance Survey 2012</a> says it's time for insurers to rethink their relationships with their customers. The survey reports the results from interviewing 5,000 customers of insurance companies. One of the main themes of their findings? Communication is key. We're not surprised. Clear communication makes for a customer-focused business.<br />
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The report says that 'better information would boost understanding'. Customers are asking for communication that is easier to understand. They want better handling of their claims — 33% of those surveyed wanted better communication. Consistency of communication across all channels and customer touchpoints is also important.<br />
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Getting the WriteMark or other document quality mark on your documents is a proven way to achieve a consistent standard of clear communication. Your customers know you care and what they read is what they get. We think fewer complaints will follow.<br />
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<a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/10529802/Insurance-and-Saving-complaints-rise" target="_blank">Read about the Insurance and Savings Ombudsman Scheme results</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.writemark.co.nz/Who+has+the+WriteMark.html" target="_blank">See who holds the WriteMark</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.iombudsman.org.nz/" target="_blank">Visit the Insurance and Savings Ombudsman website</a><br />
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Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-1699004295770744262014-08-21T04:16:00.001-07:002014-08-21T04:17:51.687-07:00Plain treatment of difficult topics<a href="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/07/07/42-56880553_wide-621982e7736cde41c638d4b970e7633f24159b3a-s40-c85.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/07/07/42-56880553_wide-621982e7736cde41c638d4b970e7633f24159b3a-s40-c85.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a>When reading reports about the outbreak of ebola in Africa, I came across the NPR blog <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda" target="_blank">Goats and Soda</a>. I was struck by the plain language used in many of the posts on this blog.<br />
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Most of the writers seem to consistently use plain language techniques to talk about their 'Stories of life in a changing world'.<br />
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These stories make excellent reading. They're highly informative, but not overly complex. They explain difficult concepts and technical terms, and gently guide the reader through the topic. They mostly use short, straightforward sentences. This reader-friendly writing style helps to make the information easy to absorb and remember.<br />
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See what you think about this sample post. It reports on an interview with <a href="http://www.davidquammen.com/" target="_blank">David Quammen</a>, who recently wrote <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Spillover-Animal-Infections-Human-Pandemic/dp/0393346617" target="_blank">Spillover</a></i>, a book about the science, history, and human impact of emerging diseases.<br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/08/05/338059797/the-ebola-outbreak-a-dress-rehearsal-for-the-next-big-one" target="_blank">Read 'A Dress Rehearsal For The Next Big One'</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/07/08/329578819/whats-in-our-name-why-goats-why-soda" target="_blank">Why is the blog named Goats and Soda?</a>Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-38956385791715839722014-08-17T00:58:00.000-07:002014-08-17T00:58:16.810-07:00Putting the big information first: Newly launched guide from the Cancer Society achieves the WriteMarkLast week the Cancer Society of New Zealand launched its new guide for people diagnosed with lung cancer. The lung cancer handbook carries the WriteMark Plain English Standard, showing that the guide has achieved a high standard of clarity.<br />
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The Cancer Society won the supreme award at the 2012 Plain English Awards. Their prize was document consulting services to the value of $10,000 from Write Limited. The Cancer Society worked with Write to review and refine the handbook. The handbook content was reviewed using the WriteMark criteria and was user-tested twice with real readers.<br />
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National Information Manager Sarah Stacy-Baynes says, 'We realised we needed to put the answers to readers' big questions first. Extra information was moved from the early part of the handbook to the appendix.'<br />
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Write's Chief Executive, Lynda Harris, is excited that the handbook has achieved the WriteMark. 'We're sure the new lung cancer handbook will become the 'go-to' resource for people needing support through diagnosis and treatment. Achieving the WriteMark shows the Cancer Society's continuing commitment to providing information in plain language to people in circumstances where they need clarity above all else.'<br />
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The new lung cancer handbook continues the Cancer Society's work to provide usable, reader-friendly resources for people with cancer, their families, and their friends.<br />
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<a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1408/S00077/new-lung-cancer-handbook-achieves-writemark-standard.htm" target="_blank">Read the media release</a><br />
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<a href="http://plainenglishawards.org.nz/" target="_blank">Enter your document or website in the 2014 Plain English Awards</a>Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-3309337211093854422014-08-04T13:49:00.000-07:002014-08-04T13:49:02.668-07:00Entries are open for the Plain English AwardsIt's time to enter the Plain English Awards for 2014. You're sure to find a category to suit a document or project you've been working on.<br />
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<a href="http://plainenglishawards.org.nz/" target="_blank">Read about the categories and entry requirements</a><br />
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And remember the People's Choice Awards too. You can nominate a really great document you've seen, or let the Awards judges know about one that wasn't reader-friendly.<br />
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<a href="http://plainenglishawards.org.nz/peoples-choice/" target="_blank">Read about the People's Choice Awards</a><br />
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<span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span><a href="http://plainenglishawards.org.nz/peoples-choice/" target="_blank"></a>
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<br />Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-22827799253304947082013-12-03T10:58:00.001-08:002013-12-03T10:58:18.388-08:00Announcing the winners of the 2013 Plain English Awards <a href="http://plainenglishawards.org.nz/storage/2013-photos/All%20winners.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1386062323156" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://plainenglishawards.org.nz/storage/2013-photos/All%20winners.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1386062323156" width="320" /></a>Congratulations to the winners and finalists in the 2013 Plain English Awards. Highlights of the Awards ceremony held last evening included the supreme award for Best Organisation <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 18.99147605895996px;">— </span>Plain English Champion to the Ministry of Social Development. The panel of international judges praised the Ministry's commitment to plain English.<br />
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And the winners of the not-so-coveted People's Choice 'Brainstrain' Award for the worst communication fronted up to accept their prize at the ceremony. The State Services Commission won the award for their advertisement for a Director of Continuous Improvement, described by the judges as 'management speak at its best'. The Commission said the win was a timely reminder to 'take their own medicine' and improve their writing.<br />
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<a href="http://plainenglishawards.org.nz/2013-awards-winners/" target="_blank">See the full list of winners and finalists</a><br />
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<a href="http://plainenglishawards.org.nz/winners-announced-2013-media/" target="_blank">Read the media release</a><br />
<br />Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-80466387921576550742013-10-17T18:02:00.000-07:002013-10-17T18:38:12.386-07:00Two New Zealander experts report from the 2013 PLAIN Conference<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Two plain English practitioners from Wellington attended </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">October's PLAIN
2013 Conference in Vancouver.</span></span><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Case studies compared Canada's environment with a New Zealand KiwiSaver project<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></span></h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Anne-Marie
Chisnall, describes the presentation about plain
English in the field of finance.</span></div>
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‘On the second day of the conference, I spoke in a joint
session with Michelle Black of Simply Read, a consultancy firm based in Canada.
Michelle does a lot of work in the areas of financial, health, and legal information.
So our talks were complementary. </div>
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Anne-Marie says, 'Michelle set the scene for the Canadian financial
environment and I came in with a case study about KiwiSaver investment
statements in New Zealand. </div>
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<br /></div>
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'The session participants were interested in the similar
initiatives in financial literacy in the two countries. And in how to achieve a
plain document when working with many interested parties — especially legal reviewers
who often tend to want to reverse plain language changes.’</div>
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<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The conference's inspiration is available online </span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And Lynda
Harris, Anne-Marie’s colleague, said the conference was ‘</span><span lang="EN-GB">inspiring and brim-full of information’.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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‘Karen Schriver's fantastic session on evidence-based
plain language, Mark Hochhauser's research on how readers think and understand,
and Deborah Bosley's case studies linking research and better business, were
just some of the many highlights.’ </div>
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<br /></div>
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Most of the conference presentations will soon be posted
on the PLAIN 2013 website so keep an eye out for them. Lynda says<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that the plenary sessions were videoed. ‘They’ll
be great watching.’</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://www.plain2013.org/">Visit the website of the 2013 PLAIN Conference</a> </div>
Inez Romanoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13411360835023678245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-45590878524111825332013-07-07T21:40:00.003-07:002013-07-07T21:40:56.063-07:00The Plain English Awards are open for entries It's time to round up your entries for the Plain English Awards. One sentence is all it takes if you enter the category of Best Plain English Sentence Transformation!<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Or you can enter your documents and websites, individual champions and project teams, and technical communicators.<div>
<a href="http://www.plainenglishawards.org.nz/" target="_blank">Read more about the 2013 Plain English Awards</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.plainenglishawards.org.nz/award-categories-requirements/" target="_blank">Find out more about the award categories</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you'd like to sponsor the Awards, contact the Plain English Awards Trust. They'd love to hear from you!</div>
<div>
<a href="mailto:enquiries@plainenglishawards.org.nz" target="_blank">enquiries@plainenglishawards.org.nz</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-83557209973607818652013-06-25T03:22:00.000-07:002013-06-25T03:22:59.972-07:00Plain English revisitedEver find yourself slipping into jargon or adding a bit of padding for effect? Maybe it's time for a plain English refresher. This blog by Oxford Dictionaries reminds us why plain English works for writers and readers.<br />
<a href="http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/06/plain-english/" target="_blank">Read the blog: Keep calm and say it plainly</a><br />
<br />
And if you'd like to check how plain your writing is, get a WriteMark assessment.<br />
<a href="http://www.writemark.co.nz/WriteMark+process.html" target="_blank">Find out about the WriteMark</a>Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-60723080217900198262013-04-22T02:30:00.001-07:002013-04-22T02:30:57.738-07:00New Plain English credit contract hits the market<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">DTR has started using
a new credit contract written in plain English. The new contract is designed to
help customers understand what DTR promises, and what the customer needs to
promise, before anyone signs the contract.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The contract is called the 'Easi-own
agreement'. It's the first consumer finance contract in New Zealand
to carry the WriteMark, New Zealand’s plain English quality mark. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We look forward to hearing what customers think about the new contract.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://business.scoop.co.nz/2013/04/22/plain-english-credit-contract-in-the-market/" target="_blank">Read more about the contract on Scoop</a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-27753158133982652972013-02-24T12:42:00.000-08:002013-02-24T15:50:38.295-08:00Plain is the new beautiful<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]-->Congratulations to ANZ on achieving the WriteMark for their new <a href="http://www.onepath.co.nz/Investment/Documents/ANZ_KS_IS.pdf">ANZ KiwiSaver investment statement</a>. The investment statement has been posted to close to 200,000 New Zealanders. It is the first KiwiSaver investment statement in the country to carry the WriteMark. <br />
<br />
“We wanted our refreshed ANZ KiwiSaver Scheme Investment Statement to have the highest standards for plain English and clarity,” said John Body, Managing Director, ANZ Wealth and Private Banking, New Zealand. <br />
<br />
“WriteMark is the recognised quality mark for plain English in New Zealand and we are pleased to be the first in the industry to carry a WriteMark on our KiwiSaver investment statement. We believe displaying the WriteMark gives members confidence that our documents have been written to make things easier for them. All the information they need is easy to find and easy to read,” Mr Body said. <br />
<br />
We believe that documents written in plain English are not just good for readers; they’re good for businesses, too — because readers have fewer unanswered questions and a better understanding, and because they feel more positive about the organisation. <br />
<br />
We’re impressed with the commitment ANZ has made to its investors. Some financial institutions and their lawyers have argued that writing an investment statement in plain English is just not possible. ANZ has shown that the naysayers are wrong; investment statements can be clear.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.writemark.co.nz/Why+invest+in+the+WriteMark/The+WriteMark+frequently+asked+questions.html">For more about the WriteMark, see our FAQ</a>. Judy Knightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10188219980587822919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-80365220315567679742013-02-05T17:23:00.000-08:002013-02-05T17:23:50.767-08:00Making business writing betterOur WriteMark assessors like this recent blog from Bryan A. Garner for the Harvard Business Review. He talks about ways to connect with your reader and avoid sending them to sleep.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/01/dont_anesthetize_readers_with.html" target="_blank">Read Bryan A. Garner's blogpost</a><br />
<br />
The techniques he mentions are all tried and true fundamentals of plain language. And they match neatly with the language-related criteria of the WriteMark Plain English Standard.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.writemark.co.nz/WriteMark+process/WriteMark+criteria+for+documents.html" target="_blank">Read about the WriteMark criteria</a><br />
<br />
Writing in plain language helps you connect with your reader and get your message across — first time. Your readers will thank you for it.Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-37647444537304894432013-01-28T01:46:00.000-08:002013-01-28T01:46:10.798-08:00Awards time in the United States<span style="color: #111111; font-family: arial; font-size: 15.199999809265137px; line-height: 20px;">It's that time of year when our friends in the US seek nominations for the ClearMark and WonderMark awards.</span><br />
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: arial; font-size: 15.199999809265137px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: arial; font-size: 15.199999809265137px; line-height: 20px;">The ClearMark awards celebrate the best in clear communication and plain language from US government and not-for-profit organisations, and private companies.</span><br />
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 15.199999809265137px; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://centerforplainlanguage.org/awards/" target="_blank">Read more about the ClearMark awards</a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 15.199999809265137px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 15.199999809265137px; line-height: 20px;">The WonderMark award is a chance to highlight documents that miss the mark and need to be written much more clearly to meet the reader's needs. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 15.199999809265137px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 15.199999809265137px; line-height: 20px;">The Center for Plain Language's website has lots of examples from earlier awards and they make for interesting reading. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 15.199999809265137px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 15.199999809265137px; line-height: 20px;">Later in the year, New Zealand's Plain English Awards will be taking place. And to get us thinking about what to nominate for our People's Choice 'Brainstrain' awards, take a look at some documents that have received the WonderMark award. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 15.199999809265137px; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://centerforplainlanguage.org/awards/wondermark2012/" target="_blank">Read about the 2012 WonderMark awards</a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.plainenglishawards.org.nz/" target="_blank">Read about the 2012 WriteMark New Zealand Plain English Awards</a></span>Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-76611308152329570152013-01-18T19:17:00.000-08:002013-01-18T19:17:11.347-08:00Plain language in regulations<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<a href="http://www.plainenglishawards.org.nz/storage/judges/Annetta%20Cheek.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1344918699068" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.plainenglishawards.org.nz/storage/judges/Annetta%20Cheek.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1344918699068" /></a><i>We continue our series of guest posts with this piece from Dr Annetta Cheek. Annetta is an anthropologist by training, with a PhD from the University of Arizona. She worked for the US Government from 1980 until early 2007 and spent four years as the chief plain language expert on Vice President Al Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government. She was the chair of the federal interagency plain language advocacy group PLAIN, from when it was founded in 1995 until she retired from the government. She also administered the group’s website,<br /><a href="http://www.plainlanguage.gov/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(200, 204, 234); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #3c4393; text-decoration: initial;" target="_blank" title="http://www.plainlanguage.gov">http://www.plainlanguage.gov</a>.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Since retiring, Annetta has served as Chair of the board of the private sector Center for Plain Language. The Center held its third annual awards at the National Press Club in May 2012. Annetta is also the Director of Plain Language Programs for NOVAD Consulting and R3I Consulting, two Washington DC-based consulting firms.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US">In 2010, the United States Congress passed,
and President Obama signed, the Plain Writing Act. That act requires agencies
to write in plain language any material about public services and benefits.
Plain language advocates, and especially the Center for Plain Language, had
been advocating such an act for some years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">But noticeably missing from the act were
government regulations. In fact, the act specifically excluded regulations from
coverage. While regulations had been included in the first several versions of
the bill, the provision was lost during the negotiations that are an integral
part of the process of getting Congress to pass legislation. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Reasons behind the loss of this provision
included a concern that it would have been used as an excuse to stall
regulations (“Take this back and rewrite it </span>— it isn’t in plain language!”) and
of course the old wives’ tale about plain language being imprecise. And during the campaign for the bill, a
number of attorneys from federal agencies traipsed up to Capitol Hill to
complain that writing in plain language was just too hard. I admit I was a bit
surprised by that — while I know that writing in plain language is not nearly as
easy as the outcome may make it look, I’m not used to attorneys admitting that they
can’t write something.</div>
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<span lang="EN-US">We believe that it’s critical for the
government to write regulations in plain language. Regulations are the starting
point for most, if not all, federal programs. All too often, confusing
regulatory language flows down into the documents that go directly to the
public. Statutory language is often obscure, and the public needs decent
regulatory language to clear up the confusion. I worked on many programs during
my 25 years as a federal employee in which members of the public read the regulations
themselves. They didn’t want to have to pay some attorney or technical expert
to explain the regulations to them. Nor should they have to. The government
should write all its documents in a style that’s accessible to the intended
reader.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">We’ll be going back to Capitol Hill when
the new Congress starts to meet. We’ll be talking to them again about plain
language in regulations. And we’ll keep talking to them until we achieve our
goal. It’s a battle worth fighting, and one that citizens in all countries
should take on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://centerforplainlanguage.org/" target="_blank">Find out more about the Center for Plain Language</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.plainlanguage.gov/plLaw/index.cfm" target="_blank">Find out more about the Plain Writing Act 2010</a></div>
Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-85836166500643427592012-12-18T20:36:00.000-08:002012-12-18T20:36:35.184-08:00Plain language is good business<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1HLYHvvWLoM/UNFDlJNumuI/AAAAAAAAABA/FS4hCeU_xY8/s1600/Candi+Harrison+-+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1HLYHvvWLoM/UNFDlJNumuI/AAAAAAAAABA/FS4hCeU_xY8/s200/Candi+Harrison+-+pic.jpg" width="120" /></a><i><span lang="EN-US">Candi Harrison offers this guest post. Candi is t</span>he former Co-Chair of the US Federal Web Managers Council. She has served as a judge for the WriteMark Plain English Awards and the ClearMark Awards for the past 3 years.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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I worked on U.S. Government websites for 10 years; and
I learned there’s one principle that trumps all others: if you don’t communicate effectively, you
can’t serve effectively. If customers
come to your website and cannot understand what you offer and how to get it,
they leave and never come back. They
tell their friends what a rotten website you have and, by extension, how bad
you must be. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">How you communicate – the words you use and the ways
you organize them – brands your organization as much as that little logo you
use or those razzle dazzle graphics or those expensive ad campaigns. That’s why getting the words right – making
them “plain” – is good business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">So how do you get the words right? You get to know your customers – how they
think and how they talk. You train
everyone in your organization how to write right, and you reward staff members
who improve your products. You look for
examples of good writing and emulate them. You watch your customers use what you’ve written, see where they
stumble, and fix it. You find
professionals to help you. You invest
the time because it makes your product better and your customers happy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">There’s lots of help. The folks at WriteMark in New Zealand and the Center for Plain Language
in the US offer great resources. Right
now, WriteMark is offering a “free sample” of their services. Just send them a document or web page, and
they’ll give you a mini-review. That
gives you a place to start. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Check out the winners of WriteMark’s Plain Writing
Awards and the US ClearMark Awards, and use them as examples. Get your staff together to look at the
winners. Talk about what works and
why. Then see how you can apply those
lessons to your own products. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Businesses, non-profits, and governments all over the
world are getting on the plain language band wagon. Why?
Because it just makes sense. When
your customers can find and use what they want, easily and effectively, they’re
happy. Happy customers come back. They tell their friends. Plain language is good business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.writemark.co.nz/" target="_blank">Check out the WriteMark and the offer of a sample assessment</a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.plainenglishawards.org.nz/" target="_blank">See the WriteMark Award winners</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://centerforplainlanguage.org/awards" target="_blank">See the ClearMark Award winners</a></div>
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<a href="http://centerforplainlanguage.org/" target="_blank">Find out more about the Center for Plain Language</a></div>
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Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-12348121827461547592012-12-12T02:46:00.000-08:002012-12-12T02:46:17.276-08:00Put your communications to the testWe love it when people discover the benefits of plain language! Better later than never, we say. In a recent blogpost, Simon Dudley of Logitech talks about connecting with your customers using plain language. No need for 'fluffy, marketing jargon,' he says. Simon has just discovered the Center for Plain Language, and it seems he's a convert!<br />
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He suggests taking a look at the Center's website, then taking a closer look 'to see if your company meets their standards'.<br />
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<a href="http://www.lifesize.com/videoconferencingspot.com/?p=6903">Read Simon's blogpost about plain language</a><br />
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Not to be outdone, in New Zealand, Write Limited has been making a noise about plain language for almost 25 years.<br />
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<a href="http://www.write.co.nz/Plain+English+resources/Plain+English+articles/Making+the+business+case+for+Plain+English.html">Read what Lynda Harris says about the business benefits of plain English</a>Anne-Marie Chisnallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05292319473276297973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-71338224829035052532012-12-10T12:31:00.000-08:002012-12-10T12:31:21.079-08:00Congratulations to the winners!<a href="http://www.plainenglishawards.org.nz/">Congratulations to all winners and finalists in the 2012 Plain English Awards</a>!Judy Knightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10188219980587822919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397556006009536220.post-65481063047839635292012-11-07T19:00:00.000-08:002012-11-07T19:00:14.624-08:00Awards finalists announcedCongratulations to all <a href="http://plainenglishawards.org.nz/2012-awards-finalists/">finalists in the 2012 Plain English Awards</a>! Winners will be announced at the presentation ceremony on 29
November.Judy Knightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10188219980587822919noreply@blogger.com0