I like the statement plain language is for everyone. But, I would add: plain language is for all communication. This year I did three completely different projects, in three different sectors, with three different audiences. But, the results were singular: plain language practices work for all types of information.

As I worked through all these projects, I was motivated by the solutions and opportunities plain language offered, regardless of the challenge.

I am committed to FireSmart and all the work they do to help people protect their homes, neighbourhoods and communities from wildfires. This was my first work as a plain language editor for signage. Working from content that came with academic and public-sector influences, we ‘whittled’ away at the words until we had content that was concise, educational and would help readers navigate the site. Images were selected to support the content. For accessibility to information, we considered the size and position of the signs. Signs are basically instructions. But, they offer limited space. The project will be launched in the spring. People will certainly provide their feedback once the trails are open. We really did make every word count and plain language helped us achieve this.

As I worked through all these projects, I was motivated by the solutions and opportunities plain language offered, regardless of the challenge.
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The days of businesses saying, ‘I am the best’, ‘You must have my product’, ‘This is all you need’ are gone. People want a conversation, a connection problem solved. If your customers are meeting you online for the first time, or catching up on the latest news, turn your About page into a story that will connect, create interest and build commitment. Tell them your story. It’s seen as the number one way to market. But, like any great marketing writing, you have to have a plan that focuses on your audience. Here are some tips and examples to get you going.
 
Making a connection
 
This Forbes magazine article highlights how storytelling is the best marketing tool to make an “emotional connection”, which is what many clients want, after more than two decades of virtual buying and selling.  Top takeaway tip is to ‘be authentic’. Be honest. Be respectful.
 
Focus on audience
 
Today’s audiences are well-informed, well-traveled (including virtually) and focused. They know what they want, or at least what questions they want answered. And, they are interested in being entertained. Ask yourself what your clients want, why this story matters to them. As I share in my Writing Your Business Story workshop, it’s your client’s story, not yours. And, you want it to be so memorable so they share it with others. 
 
Take a look at the image and content on Lamplighter Brewery’s About page. Doesn’t it make you want to work there, hang out there, buy their product? I’m sure those were their goals. Another key part of writing your business story is having clear goals, linking stories to your mission statement and tracking results.

Focus on emotions
 
Check out how Toms shoes took a one-off in-house event, 
One Day Without Shoes, and turned it into a global story. Can you just imagine it? They used people, an activity everyone could participate in, and got to the ‘soul’ of it. The visual use of social media, and easy inclusivity, helped take this story, and the charity, to the world.
 
On a global level, Dove’s Mission: Care video tackling the issue of men who miss their families is extreme, storytelling, with emotion, lots of emotion. 
 
You can do it too. Critical components: real people, relatable situations, making connections. It shows you can go outside of your core market, you can target fringe interest and create new connections, all through storytelling. But, you don’t have to be a global business to have success.
 
Focus on local
 
BC’s Kootenay based Elevation Industries has an About page that will make any outdoor enthusiast want to go in and see what’s there for themselves. They are very motivational, connect with target audience’s emotions, and use humour. These are all key components of great story-telling.
 
Nelson-based Kootenay Mountain Culture takes you on the journey of their successful magazine and website. They don’t tell you what they do: they weave an image of their passion to sharing their environment, the people who influence them and their connection to the adventure and culture. If you didn’t know who they were when you visited their site, you’ll know when you leave.  
 
Whether your local is a few feet from your office, or an online social community or a global initiative or enterprise, narrow down your story’s scope. Know your audience profiles, so you can talk directly to them. Global is accessible, but making your business local is powerful. Always make your ending come alive. The best way to do that is to collaborate with your audience from the start to the finish of telling your—I mean ‘their’—story.

Read the earlier Key Advice Blog on Getting Attention with Your About Web
page.

Do you have a great business story to share? 

Gregory Younging is presenting at the  ​Editors Canada Conference: Bridging Communities. Saskatoon, SK. May 25-27, 2018. Indigenous and Plain Language  presentation streams run both days.

I’ve been asked to write a feature for a magazine in subhead format. As a web-journalist and editor I welcomed this refresher. They are critical to getting, keeping and entertaining readers, so I thought I’d share these tips.

Yes. Readers like, are used to and expect small chunks of information on the web, particularly in blogs. It is our responsibility as writers to help lead our readers through our stories, and subheads are important signposts. Search engines also like them, although filling them with keywords is not recommended. Subheads help you target information, promote benefits and inspire action. Hubspot has a great overview.

With less than 10 seconds to grab the attention of most web readers, it’s important to make subheads work. Smartblogger lists these three tips:

1. Be creative. Simple subheads that repeat the opening line or simply restate the topic don’t work.
2. Use words like ‘benefits’, ‘successful’ and ‘proven’ to entice the reader. Spoiler alert subheads just give away the topic and readers are likely to scan and move on.
3. Make it easy for readers to understand your message. Too-smart subheads, full of lingo, may sound good but they aren’t great for keeping readers involved.

 
Examples
Before: Becoming a freelance writer
After: Why becoming a freelancer was a great idea

The ‘before’ example is simply a regurgitation of the topic that follows.
The ‘after’ example raises interest, makes the reader curious, has readability.

Pay attention to the subheads in blogs you enjoyed reading. Look for common characteristics like:

1. Gets the reader curious, wanting to know more.
2. Uses the element of surprise, makes it memorable.
3. Shows your personality, makes connections.
4. Shares emotions, is real.
   

Smartblogger’s writing tips advise drafting your full blog, then going back and writing your subheads. That makes sense. You have much more control then.
I enjoyed this refresher, and hope you did too.
Kate
kate@keyadvice.net

Plain language editing is the process of making information readable, accessible and actionable by the readers. Plain language editors use clear writing guidelines and user-friendly design criteria to ensure the message really connects with the audience. But sometimes it is challenging to know where to start a plain language edit. Here are some ideas on how to focus on plain language.

Substantive Editing: Organize for the reader
Reduces review time by 40-60%* --Plain language writing and editing leads to less review time. Organizing for easy reading plays a big role.

• State purpose in opening. Put the most important (for your reader) information first.

• Use clear, concise, consistent headings to organize the content.
• Remove, reorganize and revise sentences, paragraphs and sections for optimum readability

Copy Editing: Write concise sentences
Decreases production time by 50%*—Focus on conciseness. Train everyone contributing on how to write and edit for less volume. Use a plain language checklist.
Show others how to improve their sentence structure. Most likely they’ve been taught how to write lengthy, descriptive sentence. Explain the benefits of active voice.

• Keep sentences short (20 – 25 words).
• Write using first person. Instead of ‘the organization’ or ‘the administration’, use ‘we’, ‘I’.
• Use active voice (who does what) for a clearer sentence structure.

Proofreading: Choose the best words
 Reduces word count by 40%*--focus on how to get rid of jargon, empty phrases, passive voice, repetition.
You are aiming to create a message that audiences can easily understand, efficiently navigate and effectively act on. So, you need to speak their language, clearly. At the proofreading stage, check for:

• Repetition (keep a synonyms list handy), empty phrases (in order to), and redundancies.
• Acronyms, abbreviations, technical terms that can confuse and lose the readers. If you need to, create a glossary to help readers understand.
• Weak words. Choose the best words for your audience. A style sheet is recommended.

Set goals and track progress: Keep data
Increases customer satisfaction by 50%*—research shows clear communications means happy clients
As you go through the editing process, remember to get feedback from real readers, especially at the beginning and end. Track the feedback data for future projects. Save your before and after examples. Plain language is an investment, make sure you get a great return.
Integrating plain language editing guidelines into the style guide you already use is the easiest way to achieve success. The proof is in this plain language process.
 
Resources
Plain Language Association International: PLAIN.org
US Government Plain Language site: www.plainlanguage.gov
Training: PlainLanguageAcademy.com
 
*Bold points are from PLAIN President Neil James, Plain English Foundation, Australia, PLAIN 2017 Conference presentation.

 Plain language still evokes questions from many clients. What is it all about? How does it work? What benefits are there? You can simply answer the questions. Or, you can ask for some time to do a training exercise to bridge the knowledge gap. This can be anything from a short team training exercise, a learning at lunch program, presentation to key leaders or an event keynote talk. Of course, you can run a workshop. Here are five plain language training options that focus on involving people and integrating it into your communications.

1. Drawing Personas
Audience awareness plays a huge part in plain language. You need a detailed picture of your audience for your team to create, commit to and use throughout the project. Personas involve drawing pictures or creating profiles of your audience using research on their lifestyle, cultural, social, professional and personal activities and values.  I find it a fun activity to open a training activity or for team building.
Usability.gov has an excellent description of how to do personas.

2. Develop plain language style guide
Integrating plain language guidelines into an existing style guide or creating a stand-alone guide is a great investment with a long shelf-life. Focus on jargon and simple words that can replace your organizations in-house jargon. Everyone appreciates a writing resource. They save time, create shared techniques, enhance peoples’ skills. Integrating it into an existing style guide increases its value and can be a great stepping stone to a learning event.
BC Government website shares content style guides.

3. Create a plain language checklist
Plain language checklists are available online. Most are very generic. Get your communications and plain language project team together to brainstorm a checklist specific to your task, audience or organization. This increases colleagues’ understanding of, skills for and commitment to plain language.
Plainlanguage.gov offers a checklist guide.

4. Carry out an audit
Without embarrassing or intimidating anyone, carry out a plain language audit. Gather a team and collect a variety of documents or information sources and measure against selected plain language guidelines. Share the findings and as a group come up with recommendations. You'll be coaching and training people throughout the whole process.
IABC (International Association of Business Communicators) shared this guide for audits.

5.  Enter a project for an award
Awards offer several opportunities for learning and committing to plain language. It helps see what the standards are in the profession. If you are recognized, you have motivation to carry on with your plans.
PLAIN (Plain Language Association InterNational) offers members ($60/year) opportunities to be recognized at its conferences. Other organizations offer annual awards.

Integrating plain language from the top down is your best way to achieve success.
PlainLanguageAcademy.com has core and advanced courses that cover the whole process.

I recently saw an article stating we haven't made many, if any, major gains in the battle against jargon over the past 25 years. There was proof from all the big players in many sectors. I agree we have a big challenge ahead, but I also feel we can win the fight with a strategic approach that proves the benefits of plain language.

Build a diary or archive of bad examples made great with plain language writing, editing and design. A picture of plain language results can clearly show someone how to effectively use clear language and readable designs to really connect with clients.

Work closely with your designers, for print, visual and online products, to ensure they understand the techniques of clear design. We too often focus on the written components and forget about the creative.
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Back up your claims with benefits.

Create a diverse team of clear communication champions. Identify client, staff or organizational opportunities to improve your communications and decrease time spent fixing problems. Be very open-minded about the membership. Solutions can come from anyone, anywhere. Someone not in a communications role may have excellent ideas, be a great problem-solver, and have unique insights. Plain language is most successful when multiple disciplines have a commitment.
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Plain language is a bit like starting a new exercise program. It can hurt at first. But, once you make the commitment, you start to see the benefits. You have to make a long term commitment to see the biggest gains.

Show and tell, teamwork and a long term commitment together can help you put, keep and enhance plain language  on your organization's agenda. You can expect to meet resistance. You can expect to have lots of chats explaining the process. And, you can win people over by selling the benefits.

How do you take your life's work and experiences and turn them into a short story? Start by selecting an interesting aspect that your readers can relate to and will be interested in. If they like travelling, select a personal travel story that can help them understand you better.
 
When I first travelled overseas, I met many people in their 40s and older backpacking on their own. It inspired me to be independent and try new things—forever.
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Plain language, the process of ensuring information meets readers’ needs, is quickly becoming a top skill for freelance writers and editors. Our clients are faced with increased competition and the need to stand out. Plain language benefits for editors include clarity checklists for writing, ways to strengthen the connection between content and clients, and design guidelines for readability. Benefits for your clients include being more effective and efficient at communicating, solving their clients’ problems quickly, and improving staff skills. Words take time, and time is money. So, where do you begin?

It is important to understand what plain language is, where to fit it into your services, and how you can promote it to your clients. You may be confronted with the question “What is plain language?” Plain language, or clear communication, is the process of creating print information or online content that meets readers’ needs. We know that organizations struggle to get and keep a client’s attention in today’s competitive marketplace. Following the plain language process helps ensure clients can:

• quickly find the information they want,
• clearly understand the message, and
• easily take the actions needed.
  

Regardless of which guidelines you use, what the project focus is, or how much time is available, plain language professionals always put their audience first. As freelance editor Christa Bedwin states in her book, if our audience doesn’t understand what we’ve presented, then we didn’t communicate effectively. Read her Forum blog The Joys of Teaching Engineers to Write to see how plain language can effectively cross borders, professions, and topics. It knows no boundaries. It is a great way to enhance your skills, scope, and services.

Interested in enhancing your skills? Sign up for an online  PlainLanguageAcademy.com course.

Are you, your colleagues, or your clients still unclear about just what plain language is and how to explain it? I still get asked, and expect I always will. It's a process, and that takes a strategic approach to explaining. The basic answer is next.

​Plain language is a process of creating information that meets the audience's needs to: 

• quickly find the information they want
• clearly understand it, and
• easily act on it.

That's your elevator pitch. But, how do you demonstrate it so people can see plain language in action? GatherContent.com did a series of videos, an Advent calendar's worth, on how to communicate effectively. I've included links to key videos that support plain language content. It all starts with the audience.
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