When was the last time you publically celebrated your writing or editing? Often writers don't get recognition, publicity or accolades for their work. But, plain language achievements definitely merit celebrating, and that's what International Plain Language Day Oct 13 is all about.
 
Cheryl Stephens, Plain Language Wizardry, and Kate Harrison Whiteside, Key Advice and the Plain Language Academy, co-founded the first professional organization, now PLAIN. But, with the continued growth in the field, they wanted to celebrate the great work going on globally. Five years ago they launched International Plain Language Day October 13 (the date US government introduced plain language laws).
 
The IPlainDay 2016 theme is Show and Tell, to encourage writers and designers to inspire others by sharing examples—on bulletin boards, in e-newsletters, at local libraries, during events and on social media.
 
"So much plain language progress is being made behind the scenes," said Kate Harrison Whiteside.  "It is so important that you share your progress and celebrate—it doesn't matter where, when or how­, just that you share."

 
Here are five ways to celebrate the 5th International Plain Language Day Oct 13:

1. Set up a display of before and after examples in your office.
2. Invite colleagues to a meeting on IPlainDay to discuss clear writing benefits.
3. Ask your local learning centre, library, coffee shop to host an event.
4. Get members of your professional association to submit examples and post for others to see.
5. Join the #plainshare2016 tweet-up talk on Twitter.

Social media can be a lonely job for the solo publicist for an organization. This is very true for entrepreneurs, charities and small-to-medium enterprises (SME). Whether you are a leader or a follower—or  both—social media is a key part of your marketing activities. If you have to go it alone, planning, time management and tech support tools, and making it a truly social experience are all going to lead to success.

I am often asked to help SMEs with their social media—from coaching, to planning, to doing it. The sagest advice I received on social media (over a decade ago) is not to do other people's. Although in reality that isn't always practical, or possible, there is some truth to it. No one can tell their story (and we know story-telling is the next big marketing push) better than the story-tellers themselves. It's all about relationships. You need to have a close relationship with your client (internal or external), and they with you, to give your social media messages powerful meaning.

If you are in charge of social media messaging for your or someone else's organization, here are some helpful ideas from Communication Consultant Amy-Louise Tracey. It's all about being prepared, taking time and making technology work for you.

Give your social media plan depth. Think big—the whole calendar year—and identify dates, events and activities to promote.  I always plan backwards from the key date. Zoom in on each key time period, identify the messages, and select the media. Blog? Tweet? Post? Then do your micro plan—assign and create messages for key dates. Now sit back and admire your planning skills. The next year will be busy.

Make Hubspot, Hootsuite or your web platform's social media plug in–or all of these–your best friends. They were designed to help people just like you, who have a lot to do and not enough time. Also use bulit-in features, like sharing plug-ins, to spread the word. Share an older post or blog you think engaged followers may like. Look for other people's posts on the same or a similar topic to widen the experience. You don't have to be three places at once: but, you can make it look like you are all over the social media map.

Everyone is busy. But, it only takes a minute to ask someone to help support your/their campaign. In fact, build that into your plan. When the messages are about new products, get the product development team involved. They will have established networks, be on different platforms and can add a new dimension to your messages. The support you get may be a surprise.

For last year's International Plain Language Day Oct 13 Twitter campaign, #30plainwords, I started about mid-summer. Hootsuite—just one of those helpful social media management platforms—allowed me to create, schedule and track each tweet. The campaign also generated content for a blog post, updates for my Facebook Page and LinkedIn conversations. I let key people know what was coming and asked them to spread the word. It was so fun, and successful, that I am doing it again this year. Planning your content and your delivery well in advance, and getting tech and a virtual team involved, are key to the solo social media messenger's secret strategy.

I celebrated International Plain Language Day 2015 by posting #30plainwords—one each day for the 30 days leading up to Oct 13. We can all use plain language resources. As words are at the heart of plain language, this list can be a starting point. It may be the beginning of a style guide for your organization, encouraging people to choose their words carefully.

Don't Use, Choose

1. anticipate, expect
2. attempt, try
3. As a consequence of, because
4. accordingly, so
5.commence, start
6.consequently, so
7.demonstrate, show
8.determine, decide
9. expedite, speed up
10.in the event of, if
11.facilitate, help
12.however, but
13.in accordance with, with
14.in relation to, due to
15.in the amount of, for
16.it is requested, please
17.at this point in time, now
18.modify, change
19. numerous, many
20. operate, use
21.prioritize, order
22.for the purpose of, for
23.prior to, before
24.regarding, about
25.represents, is
26. subsequently, after or then
27.therefore, so
28.transmit, send
29. with reference to, about
30. our office, we

Remember: Every word counts, and costs.

Starting your first plain language project—or initiating a new one—can seem like a big mountain to climb. But, it simply takes a step-by-step approach to get started, go the distance and achieve success. On International Plain Language Day Oct 13 we are inviting you to take the 'Write Clearly 2015' challenge. Here are tips to help you get started.

Seven tips for project success
Successful plain language projects have these seven characteristics in common:
1. the team - strategically choose people who can help you reach your goal.
2. SMART goals - reduce the volume of content in a document or simplify the writing.
3. clear guidelines - create a style guide for the project so everyone has the same information.
4. carefully select document or information collection - keep it manageable.
5. user or reader feedback -  helps drive the project forward.
6. training - for team and staff.
7. evaluation strategy - track all key developments.
Whether you are doing one document or an organizational overhaul, these steps are important. Success depends on excellent project management and team leadership. You can do it!

Seven steps to plain language
1.Select your document or group of documents.
2.Use plain language checklist to assess what clear communication guidelines are being used. Are missing?
3. Establish project style guide for everyone to use.
4. Carry out one or two readability or usability tests.
5. Edit document to style guide and test results.
6. Proof and re-test.
7. Finalize and design for readability.

When you reach the top of the mountain you will have a great view! Every project is a great learning experience. Expect a few surprises along the way. But, plan to celebrate the project and use it as a template in going forward.

If you need advice - get in touch.

Too often content comes at the bottom of the communication or website planning list. In fact, over half of website launches are delayed due to content issues coming up at the end of the process, instead of at the beginning. And, a lot of time is wasted re-writing print content, because defining the 'who' and asking for audience input was left out or left too late. At the Literacy and Learning Symposium 2012, Terri Peters and I presented "The Power of Plain Language – telling the story straight".  She dealt with the print side, and, I looked at plain language website tips. Here are some key points we shared.

Always start with the 5 Ws: who, why, what, where, when. Spend time carefully, and deeply analyzing your audience (who) and purpose (why). All content decisions should be made based on these two key points.

Website audiences can be categorized as user who are skimmers - on a mission to find something, fast. Website users scan in an F pattern, seeking headings, subheadings and links.  Readers scan also. Are you giving your readers and visitors what they want? The best way is to ask and involve them. See the links below for some tips.

Plain language is all about accessibility. Print design is about being reader-friendly. And websites are all about usability. Putting print and web design together with plain language can deliver powerful results. 

Today's audiences are media savvy. They want visual and audio options, as well as text. Give them video, podcasts, galleries. Satisfy their hunger. But, don't over do it. The easyread.drugabuse.gov site is a great example of the blending of written and visual elements.  And, in print - use simple and realistic graphics, supported by a readable font, and a design that uses lots of white space.

With the help of an experienced assessor, carry out usability testing before you go live or go to print. You'll be glad you did.

Put your readers first; put content at the beginning the communications plan; and follow plain language guidelines from start to finish. The results will be satisfying – for you and your users.

Here are more helpful links:

Power of Plain Language Bibliography

Usability testing sites:
www.Online-utility.org
read-able.com (web content)
readabliity-score.com

Sample plain language websites:
easyread.drugabuse.gov                
www.gov.ns.ca/wcat 
www.thewclc.ca/edge                              
www.literacy.ca
sarn.ca

If this looks like the kind of presentation you'd like for your organization, please contact me, Kate Harrison Whiteside at
[email protected] or Terri Peters, TLP Training at, [email protected] 

Mark Your Calendars for Plain Language Association International's PLAIN2013 Conference in Vancouver - Oct 10-13, 2013. Celebrate with us...Keep searching for PLAIN2013. The website is coming soon.

In the last week I have had the brilliant opportunity to participate in two community awareness and fundraising events. One was local to BC, the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy (CBAL) and Black Press Reach-A-Reader Day literacy campaign. The other was International Plain Language Day Oct 13, iplday.org, a virtual, global celebration. They may seem worlds apart - but really they are very close in many ways - and we can all learn from them.

CBAL's local literacy awareness and fundraising campaign involved partnerships, promotions, and people - volunteering time to shout about it on street corners in their towns. They raised funds that stay in their communities - by taking donations and handing out local newspapers. It was energizing to see the support live. And, the results will be felt in these communities as the funds stay with them to support local programs.

International Plain Language Day, Oct 13 celebrations involved the global community - Canada, US, UK, South Africa, New Zealand, and more - supporting this cause with local meetings; a virtual conference using YouTube, SlideShare, their website; and, social media - LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook. Donated presentations made up the content, volunteers promoted it, and hundreds watched, listened, posted and tweeted about plain language. It was motivating to be part of it. And, the results wil be felt far and wide, as the plain language global community opens its doors and invites everyone in.

These two events may seem totally unrelated - but they both had common themes: increasing people's access to and understanding of - education opportunities; health and legal information and services; workplace training and learning opportunities; community support and participation. They were both led by passionate professionals and supported by committed volunteers - and followed on an idea someone felt was important. There is a lot of powerful energy that comes from these types of events. Harness it, learn from it, and put it to work in your community.