Who will win the race for clarity?

Who’s the clearest of them all? Which organisation best understands the need for clarity in communication?

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 list of finalists  is out and the wait is nearly over — we’ll know the winners on 27 November.

Showing their dedication to clarity

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.

‘The Awards encourage organisations to show they care about communicating honestly and clearly,’ says Gregory Fortuin, Chair of the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust. 

‘Making the effort to communicate in plain English can make a difference to the lives of many people.’

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.

Making a difference to the bottom line

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.

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.’

Putting the big information first: Newly launched guide from the Cancer Society achieves the WriteMark

Last 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.

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.

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.'

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.'

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.

Read the media release

Enter your document or website in the 2014 Plain English Awards

Announcing the winners of the 2013 Plain English Awards

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 — Plain English Champion to the Ministry of Social Development. The panel of international judges praised the Ministry's commitment to plain English.

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.

See the full list of winners and finalists

Read the media release

Plain language is good business

Candi Harrison offers this guest post. Candi is the 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 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. 

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

Check out the WriteMark and the offer of a sample assessment

See the WriteMark Award winners

See the ClearMark Award winners

Find out more about the Center for Plain Language

Congratulations to the winners!

Congratulations to all winners and finalists in the 2012 Plain English Awards!

Awards finalists announced

Congratulations to all finalists in the 2012 Plain English Awards! Winners will be announced at the presentation ceremony on 29 November.