Gogetfunded

Review basics of writing in plain English

Before we look at the next steps, let's go back to the beginning. What is Plain English? We can summarize all our beginning definitions into this statement. Writing that is easy to read and understand with one reading because the language, structure, and presentation are clear. We've examined a variety of ways to achieve Plain English, user a readability index, read it aloud, avoid meaningless words, have a coherent structure, make it look reader friendly, and revise until it meets our Plain English definition. So, what next? Has a topic or two in the course made you curious to learn more about it? Plain English in general or the readability indices. Maybe jargon or voice or more guidelines on how to revise. If so, learn more about those. The exercise file includes links for more about Plain English.

One of those links has a before and after version of revisions the government has made. Johnson Space Center Manual National Park Service National Highway Traffic Safety Over-the-Counter Drug Labeling the IRS and Jury Instructions You could look at the before versions to identify the not-so-plain English components, revised portions, and then compare those with the revisions shown. You might want to play with those generators for jargon, gobbledygook, or legalize babble. Maybe generate some of those meaningless phrases and use them, just for fun. Then wait to see if anyone questions you about what it means. Just be sure not to use them for any serious reason.

I have a friend who interviews a lot of job candidates. He'll use one of those phrases in an interview question. If the candidate doesn't ask him to clarify or reword the question, he won't hire the person. Why, thematic communication. He wants employees who will question and get all the facts before making decisions, not someone who pretends to understand something that's not understandable. Or find a Plain English checklist that works for you.

Links to four possibilities are in the exercise file. Analyze someone else's writing, a business letter, an email, a newspaper article, or those instructions that came with your new tool or appliance, even that junk advertisement. Use one of the online readability indices. If it's above a 12, practice rewriting it. You might also want to check out the Center for Plain Language. That web site has a good checklist along with other resources including some best and worst of the year examples from the ClearMark and WonderMark Awards. Next, analyze some of your own writing. Select approximately 100 word samples of things you've written. Check the readability index. Look at it, read it aloud. Circle all the there's and it's, all the camouflage verbs, all the multisyllable words, and practice rewriting.

Challenge yourself to see how few words you can use without changing the meaning. Use the activities in the exercise file to help you practice revising wordy, unclear sentences. Possible revisions are given for each, but don't look at them until you revise. Then, compare yours to the revision given. Yours may even be better. Another step is a personal one. If you're one of those people who tends to berate yourself if you don't understand something you've read, stop doing that.

Chances are the writing is the problem, not you. We can't be expected to understand poor writing. And finally, I refer to some of my other courses that delve more deeply into some of the guidelines mentioned in this course. So check out the playlist with this course for additional writing guidelines and tips. All types of writing, whether a speech, an email, or a report have the same Plain English requirements. And my final comment, here's 10 words, a readability level of eight, remember for a universal audience, eight is the norm. Thanks for taking this Plain English writing journey with me.

How to choose meaningful words

Quick, define several, few, and stuff. Okay, you defined them. And you know exactly how many volunteers as in get several volunteers. You know exactly how many extra days are being requested in I need a few extra days to finish the report. And you have that specific office supply list ready to fill with the instructions get some office supply stuff. The opposite of specific is vague. That's what those words are. Meaningless because they're vague. Plain English words are precise because the reader knows the exact meaning. A dozen volunteers, three extra days, and pens, paperclips, and pads of paper.

Now let's look at these degree words. Very, as in very happy. Happy's happy. Extreme happiness has stronger words, enlighted or ecstatic maybe. I'm a fan of Mark Twain quotes and he has a perfect one for very but I'm paraphrasing to avoid a curse word. The exact quote is at this web address. "Substitute "darn" every time you're inclined "to write "very". "Your editor will delete it "and the writing will be just as it should be." We are very happy to accept your very nice award. Our entire company is very honored that you are very aware of our recent, very exciting accomplishments. Truthfully, no good editor would leave very five times, but certainly wouldn't leave darn five times. Another degree word is quite, as in quite satisfied with the promotion. Or quite a few people attended. I suppose satisfaction has degrees but completely or thoroughly are stronger to describe the degree of satisfaction. And saying that about 25 people attended is much clearer. Really, as in really impressed.

Again, impressed is impressed. Does really add anything except an extra word? Pretty, as in pretty certain. Mark Twain's method works well for deleting pretty when it is used as an adverb. Just, have you ever said, I'll do it in just a minute. Why not, I'll do it in a minute, or even better, I'll complete the project by noon. More or less, I was more or less confused. You were either confused or not, so say it. I was confused. Or clarify. The pay scale is clear, but the vacation policy is confusing. Several, few, stuff, really, pretty, very, more or less, not exactly crisp, concise, and clear are they? Another group of words that are not specific, not crisp is cliches. People who resort to cliches are usually seen as not having a strong vocabulary or are lazy and their writing is called trite, stale, or overused. Not the definition of plain English. And cliches annoy people. Annoying your readers should never be your goal. Listen to this example and identify the cliches.

Today's society has pros and cons to transparent communication. Having open communication usually leads to never a dull moment. Sometimes action can be taken in the nick of time, but other times the warnings fall on deaf ears. Management needs to see the writing on the wall and feel free to make changes to nip in the bud declining employee morale. Did you identify eight of the cliches? Today's society, pros and cons, never a dull moment, nick of time, fall on deaf ears, see writing on the wall, feel free, and nip in the bud. If we take out those dull, overused cliches what do we have left? Transparent communication has advantages and disadvantages.

Open communication can allow immediate action and improve employee morale. However, if management ignores the issues, morale can decline. 25 words. Here's a list of some common cliches to avoid. These are from an Oxford dictionary website. Dozens of other cliches are also used, just Google cliches. And finally, let's look at relative terms.

The formal definition for a relative term is one that names either a relationship or an object as standing in a certain relation. An easier way to think about relative terms might be is someone either rich or poor? tall or short? young or old? If you make $50,000 a year and you're writing about someone who makes $250,000 a year, you might say he's rich. But to someone, Bill Gates for example who's net worth for 2015 is $79.3 billion dollars, $250,000 sounds like change, far from rich. So rich is a relative term. One more, you might describe someone as old. You're 30, for example. You might mean someone who's in his 50's is old, but someone 70 would never describe someone 50 as old. How can relative terms be turned into plain English? Give the specifics. His yearly salary is $500,000 or she's 47. Let the reader decide if that's rich or poor, young or old. So vague words, degree words, cliches, and relative terms need to be avoided for specific plain English writing.

Write with a conversational style

All business writing should be professional and formal, correct? If you said yes, you scored 50%. Professional, yes; formal, no. Let's define those two terms first. Professional: professional writing is a type of written communication used in the workplace, or, writing that people do in companies and organizations using an appropriate standard and style. It uses clear language to give information to its intended audience in an easy-to-understand way. Now, formal writing: formal writing style is more complex. Usually longer sentences and paragraphs are used without any first or second person pronouns; no contractions, slang, or cliche. Those may be over-simplified definitions, but the point is that most business writing should have a conversational style. Occasionally, the formal business or technical report is prepared, but on a day-to-day basis, informal writing is the norm.

Plain English requires that you choose the correct level of formality. Do consider your relationship with your reader and the purpose of your communication when deciding whether to write formally or informally. So the point I'm making is this: professional and formal are not synonyms. Professional, always; formal, infrequently. Can you be professional and conversational? Certainly. The company recommends that all employees review the updated company handbook, or, we recommend that you review the updated company handbook. Hear the difference in those two examples?

The first if formal, the second, with "we" and "you", is informal. But both sound professional. But these are not professional expressions, which means they are not appropriate for 99.9% of your informal business writing: "That's a no brainer." "You nailed that one, LOL." "You bombed that speech." And "Here 'ya go!" Might I say that to a long-time co-worker in a really informal conversation? Maybe. Well, maybe not the "you bombed the speech." But would I ever write those in a business context? Never. So, business conversational shouldn't include slang, unclear jargon or cliche.

Here's some examples that compare and contrast four categories: pompous legalese, slang, standard formal and conversational. First, pompous. Unacceptable by any definition. As one will notice, the account referenced on the enclosed statement is 30 days in arrears. If payment in full i s remitted by March 18, the said account will remain open. Otherwise, all future purchases will be COD. Slang and unacceptable by any definition: Hey, you owe us, so pay up! Acceptable, meeting formal style definition: Because account #2369 is 30 days delinquent, if full payment is not remitted by March 18, the account will be changed to COD. But the preferred conversational style would be: Your account, #2369, is 30 days past due. If you pay the full amount of $490 by March 18, you may continue to buy on credit. After that date, your account will be COD.

Here's another one, pompous, unacceptable by any definition: Pursuant to both parties' prolonged conversation on the 27th of April, RYAL Corporation will be afforded an opportunity and extended an invitation to submit a bid by May 19 for the upcoming city project. An assessment of the bids will be performed by the end of June. Slang, and unacceptable by any definition: Wow, we chewed the fat for a long time last week, but you're on the short list -- you rock. Get that bid in by May 19. Acceptable, meeting formal style definition: RYAL Corporation is invited to submit a bid by May 19 for the upcoming city project discussed at the April 27 meeting, and the winning bidder will be notified by June 30.

But the preferred conversational style: You are invited to submit a bid by May 19 for the city project we discussed last week. The low bidder will be notified by June 30. So, plain English doesn't mean formal, although some business documents will use acceptable formal writing. But even that doesn't mean it should read like a contract. And informal doesn't mean slang. It professionally speaks directly to the reader in a conversational style. In other words, it uses plain English.

Incorporate easy-to-read design features

I've evaluated my words, the sentence structure, the voice, now my reader understands my message. It's in Plain English, right? Maybe, but maybe not. How inviting, how easy does it look to read? I feel safe in predicting that most of us, given a choice, would read the second version of these two examples. Why? Because it looks and is easier to read. Here's the paragraph that we examined in the read-a-loud lesson. Let's continue analyzing how it can be improved. Here's Version Two. Are you interested in additional money and volunteers to support for Cars for Hope car share program? Your goals for Cars for Hope are worthwhile, and we hope to partner with you to expand the program.

Answers to the following questions will help us determine how to provide the strongest support for Cars for Hope. One. What aspects of your program need the most funding? Two. How much funding would be necessary to totally fund those programs? Three. What volunteer opportunities will be available this summer? Four. What specific responsibilities would the volunteers have? And five. What is the minimum volunteer time commitment? Your response by February 28 to this email or to this phone number, would help us make plans to begin partnering with you by June. Also, please include other information to help us move forward with this potential partnership. We look forward to the possibility of working with Cars for Hope. Let's contrast the hard to read Version One with Version Two that has easy to read design features. Version One has one, 20 line paragraph.

The average should be about six to eight lines in letters, memos, and emails. So the first ding against its not being Plain English is it's length. Version Two has three short paragraphs and a numbered list. It looks reader friendly. Next, Version One is wordy and repetitive. The word volunteer, or volunteers, is used six times, we, eight times, and some version of "fun" three times. Version Two, volunteer, four times, we, two times. Version One is also wordy with needless words, help us ascertain the possibility of providing these funds by answering the following questions. Version Two shortens that to: Answers to the following questions will help us determine how to provide the strongest support for Cars for Hope. Version One, how many questions are being asked? Actually, none, since the intended questions are all hints. I would like to know, it would be nice if you would tell me, but the reader has to search even for those intended questions. In Version Two, the reader knows immediately that five questions are being asked and each starts in question form, what and how. Version One has about 200 words. Version Two has about 150 words. Not only does Version Two look easier to read, it has fewer words to read. The readability level of Version One is 13.1 and 10.1 for Version Two.

However, Version Two's improvement is much more than just it's readability index. Even something as simple as this message can improve its design features. Look at these two versions. Here are two upcoming events to get on your calendar. All of our Intramural sports teams are invited to attend the award banquet on March 19. The yearly company conference will be in Portland this year from June 12, 16. Or, Here are two upcoming events to get on your calendar. One, March 19, Intramural Sports Teams Award Banquet and two, June the 12th through the 16th, Yearly Company Conference in Portland. So what are the easy to read design features that are necessary for Plain English? Readable length sentences and paragraphs, concise wording, and numbered or bulleted lists. Internal headings so the reader doesn't have to search for the questions, the key points, or the intended message. Did I predict correctly? You chose Version Two as being the one you would read first. Remember that vision of versions one and two as you incorporate the easy to read features into your Plain English writing.

Find the right voice

Yes, you have a speaking voice but your writing also has a voice. Let's first briefly examine the speaking voice. How do you get people to listen to you? Or what makes you want to listen to other people? Voice tone for one thing. Is it a pleasant tone? A boring tone? A confusing tone? The words say one thing but the tone sends a different message and another element that makes you listen intently or stop listening completely are the words used. Do you understand them? Are effective pauses used? And do the ideas connect clearly and smoothly? You not only listen to the words and tone. You watch the speaker's body language, the metacommunication.

All the non verbal cues. Tone of voice, body language, gestures, facial expression that carry meaning that either support or contradict what the speaker's saying. Has anyone ever said to you, it's not what you said, it's how you said it? If so, he was referring to your metacommunication message. So how does a speaking voice relate to a writing voice? Every point just made about the speaking voice also applies to the writing voice. Plain English writers use a positive tone, break the thought units into understandable segments, use words that the reader will understand and the words and the metacommunication support one another. Here's how. Let's start with the words, the language. As we have examined in various lessons, the written words used must be those that the reader understands. You should always be adapting to your readers' needs and the reader needs words that are understandable. No babble. No unknown acronyms. No gobbledygook.

No pompous flowery words or slang or cliched terms. Does your writing voice sound as though you're writing to a robot or to a human being seated across a desk from you? Would you say that legal these enclosed please find or would you say here are the forms you wanted? Your writing voice tone needs to sound natural. Another question to ask is how much my new detail is necessary? You again have to adapt to your reader by asking what your reader knows, what your reader needs to know and what your reader wants to know. Giving too much detail or assuming the reader knows more than she does, both result in confusing the reader or causing the reader to lose focus as she tries to understand your message.

Another voice element is the tone. Yes, written words do have tone. A couple of my other courses delve more deeply into tone. This is Writing Fundamentals and Business Writing Strategies. Does you writing voice have a positive or a negative tone? You aren't eligible for the 10 percent discount because your purchase didn't total 50 dollars or purchases of 50 dollars and over qualify for the 10 percent discount. Your total was $46.77. Do you want to add another item of $3.23 or more so you'll receive the five dollar discount? In the first example, the voice tone is negative. Aren't eligible. Didn't total. That sentence qualifies as plain English but it isn't effective because the tone is likely to make us defensive, especially when the negative is preceded with you, an accusing tone.

The second example has a positive voice tone. The negatives are eliminated and an alternative is offered. In addition, your writing voice needs to show how your ideas connect. Remember, the reader wants the message to be plain, as in plainly clear. Your voice can achieve that by using transitional words. Another point, on the other hand, as a result, you don't leave the reader guessing how the ideas connect. What about these two sentences? All of our intramural sports teams are invited to attend the award banquet on March 19. The yearly company conference will be in Portland this year from June 12 to the 16th. Again, short sentences, easy to understand words but the voice isn't plain because the reader wonders what the connection is between the award banquet and the conference. A lead in sentence would give a smooth voice. Here are two upcoming events to add to your calendar.

And finally, what about that metacommunication? Making the words we use fit with the message. Here's an easy example. You just had a face to face meeting with a representative from a company trying to get your business. After the meeting, that rep sent you this email message. Marla, thanks for meeting with me today to discuss how our products can meet your company's needs and the followup sales pitch continues. Certainly sounds okay but there's one minor metacommunication problem. Your name is Marsha. Not Marla. The message, you don't want my business enough to be sure you have my name correct. Obviously, not a strong voice. So plain English includes not only the message, the what you're communicating but also the voice, the how you communicate that message. Be sure to use the right voice for your reader, your message and your purpose.

Remove gibberish and nonsensical writing

Goobledygook, and its synonym, gibberish, means nonsense, or makes no sense. A spoken word that makes no sense is more likely to be referred to as gibberish, and the written nonsense is more likely to be called gobbledygook, but regardless of which term is used, they refer to meaningless, empty phrases. This is another example of writing using long, complicated words that sound impressive and probably confusing because they have no meaning. Listen to these, the solution can only be integrated with administrative resources or projections. Our upgraded model now offers total asset contingencies.

Today marks the 20th anniversary celebration of our responsive strategic mobility. A window to discuss your optional administrative alignment has been suggested. If someone said any of those to me, I would smile politely and hope that what was said doesn't require a response, because I have no idea what was said. If I read those statements in a memo or email or newspaper article, I would quit reading, and again, hope that no one asks me what it meant and find something more understandable to read. What about you, same reaction?

Probably, the truth is that all four of those phrases were generated at a gobbledygook generator site. Its only purpose is to provide you with impressive but meaningless phrases. The Plain English Campaign slogan is fighting for crystal-clear communication since 1979. It campaigns against gobbledygook and other meaningless word categories. The organization awards a crystal mark to organizations that provide clear communication and the Golden Bull award to organizations that produce confusing communication. SMOG, an acronym standing for simple measure of gobbledygook is a specific readability index that detects just gobbledygook. This portion of Woodrow Wilson's war message advising Congress to declare war on Germany in 1917, has a SMOG index of 23 and an overall readability index of 55, identifying it as extremely if not impossible to understand.

In the Gobbledygook Manifesto, David Meerman Scott asserts that when we see gobbledygook, our eyes tend to glaze over and we scratch our heads wondering what it's all supposed to mean. So to write in plain English, avoid meaningless words strung together, make your reader want to keep reading. Gobbledygook is hard to define, but easy to recognize. Our reaction is usually that glassy look and puzzled facial expression along with an exclamation of "say what?" and I'm not referring to Stevie Ray Vaughan's song. The unfortunate result of reading gobbledygook writing is that we may question our intelligence. I should understand what I'm reading, but rather if you don't understand it, start questioning the writer, rather than your intelligence. And when you are the writer, analyze your SMOG. Will it receive the crystal mark or the bull award?

Eliminate vague words and expressions

What comes to mind when you hear the word weasel? The small mammal that's an active predator, long and slender with short legs? Or maybe the slang term, that scheming deceitful, conniving person who will do whatever's necessary to get what he wants. As in he weaseled his way out of attending the meeting by saying he was stuck in traffic. Or the slang verb for physical removal, the dog managed to weasel out of the cage. Those are all legitimate meanings of weasel. Now let's talk about weasel words, that informal expression to define meaningless, vague words that add nothing to a sentence except extra words. Words that may try to either overstate or understate something, to give an overexaggerated view or to intentionally mislead.

We often find them in advertising and politics. They're like that dog trying to get out of something. They help the writer get out of giving specifics of providing concrete evidence. I like Stewart Chaplin's definition in Stained Glass Political Platform published in 1900 in The Century Magazine. Words that suck the life out of the words next to them. Or maybe President Teddy Roosevelt had it right when he argued One of our defects as a nation is a tendency to use weasel words, when one weasel word after another is used, there is nothing left. As we look at these examples, I'm not saying the statement is true or false, just that the weasel words make me question the truthfulness.

The weasel words would weaken any possible real truth and will make you want to further investigate or decide if the writer has nothing better to offer as support. Also, I'm using generic examples rather than quoting from specific advertisements, politicians, or business people. Let's look at a couple of general categories of weasel words. First, vague references to support statements. You can claim something that may have no support but it sounds good. It's been found that all dogs like XYZ dog food. Who found this? How was the data collected? Or it clearly stands to reason that all employees should receive a pay raise. Whose reason? Why? Based on what? Anyone with common sense would buy this product. Wow, I don't want to be accused of not having common sense, do you? But my common sense tells me I need to know more about the product. This product costs 15 percent less. Less than what? Other brands? Less than it did yesterday? Last year? But how much does it really cost? Another category of weasel words is vague expressions of another kind.

Words such as some, many, most, several, and up to. More than, as few as, can, often, would like to, and qualifiers such as maybe, probably, and unlikely. Most people like this new flavor. Different category, but same questions. How many? How is this determined? Several companies are buying these improved products. Six of ten or 600 of 1,000. Up to 40 percent of the voters dislike Proposition Z. That can range from 0-39. If it's really 40% then say it, don't weasel out of giving voters the truth, whether that's five percent or 38%. This new diet product can help you lose 20 pounds in 20 days. It can or it will? A big difference. The vast majority of students disagree with the administration's new dress regulations. How are the facts collected? All of the students? 51% of 100 students surveyed, one more than half would qualify as the majority.

This product can last a lifetime. Whose lifetime? Mine or the products? If it lasts a year then that was it's lifetime. I would prefer that I be told how many hours of use it has. I would like to vote for you. Would like to? That's not the same as saying I will vote for you. After I would like to statement we usually wait for a but or however. I would like to vote for you but I disagree with your view of the climate change. The new policy is unlikely to pass. Hmm, here's a possible thinking process. If it's not likely to pass then one, why should I waste my time voting for it or two I want to say I was on the winning side so I'll vote against it also. Plain English writers will avoid weasel words. So as you edit your drafts, learn to look for those words.

As readers, learn to question those words. Why, when, who, how many? Once you begin asking those questions then the next logical step is to get the truth or to further investigate so you will know the truth. So what do you think of now when you hear the word weasel? Trying to get out of something, the little animal that's an active predator? Predators of all kinds exploit others. They use others in trying to get out of telling the truth. They mislead or deceive. That's exactly what weasel words do. They try to exploit readers who don't question statements, who don't take the time to analyze the statements. Why would writers want to mislead or deceive readers? The obvious answer is because there are no facts, no concrete proof that the product is the best on the market or that voters agree on an issue. So be a critical writer and a critical reader. The statement may sound good on the surface but give me the truth, the truth in plain English.

Avoid technobabble and legalese

As we discuss Technobabble, sometimes called techno speak and legalese, they may sound a lot like the other categories we've examined. And they are. Just two more ways to try to sound pompous rather than to use plain English. Technobabble doesn't have to be connected to computer technology, even though computer programmers and coders know and use a lot of technobabble. It can be any area that has technical or scientific details. Star Trek was known for using technobabble. The area of technology is, however, the first thing that comes to my mind, probably because I'm not a techie person. I can do the basics, but if something goes wrong, I probably don't know how to fix the problem so I use the Ask the Experts feature at Hewitts University Instructional Technology Services a lot of questions. Remember the PICNIC acronym from another lesson? Problem In Chair Not In Computer. That's probably written in my file. When that techie person is trying to help me, I dread the words, "It's really easy. "All you have to do is..." and everything after that becomes technobabble to me.

Technobabble uses specialized technical terms or technical jargon, maybe to show a high level of understanding, or maybe because they really think everyone understands the terms since the words are common in their field of expertise. Psychobabble, a word coined in the seventies for meaningless words used in psychiatry or psychotherapy, was probably the forerunner of technobabble. A random technobabble generator is available at this website. These are three of the phrases I just generated at that site. Phrased neutrino discriminator. Ambient system coupling. Magnetic E-M signal. Any idea what they mean? Of course not. They're not intended to mean anything. But the person using them sounds so knowledgeable.

Here are portions of the opening of chapter 4.2 of a free, online textbook on introductory programming, Introduction to Programming Using Java, Seventh Edition. The author, David Eck, tells me that the book is directly aimed toward beginning programmers. If the audience has some basic programming knowledge before deciding to become a programmer, rather than being a total novice, then the technical words' meaning may already be understood. I stop at the second word, subroutine. I am in awe of computer programmers. They can always find and fix that broken link that's making my computer not do what I want it to do, but it all sounds like technobabble to me.

Now what about legalese? Or, I guess we could call it legal babble. It's the formal and technical language of legal documents and it's often hard to understand. And by this time in the course, you probably won't be surprised to know that a random, legal gibberish generator is available. Here's the description of it: This legal gibberish generator uses a sophisticated software algorithm to create random content that reads like a real contract, but it's guaranteed to make no sense. Here's an example. Well, that's one site that certainly does what it guarantees. Those 120 words make no sense to me. All babbling should be avoided. It's hard to read, confusing and meaningless, and a complete waste of the reader's time. I located a company called Tech No Babble. Sounds like a plain English technical company I might understand.