Trophy tips
Summary of ‘Trophy Tips’: a briefing session to launch the Plain English Awards
To launch the 2015 Plain English Awards, the WriteMark Trust held a seminar for people interested in entering the Awards. People found out what the judges are looking for and what past winners did to succeed.
Thank you to our panel: Lynda Harris, Ralph Brown, Lesley Hanes, Emily Cotlier, and Matt Huntington. And thanks to our wonderful MC, Gregory Fortuin, Chair of the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust.
Below we have noted a few tips that apply to all entries, followed by specific notes for the various categories.
Tips for most categories (not People’s Choice)
- Check the entry fits the criteria. For example, for the Best Technical Communicator category, check that the entry is technical: this includes fields such as science, medicine, software, or engineering.
- Get permission to enter from your manager, the author, or other appropriate person.
- Take care completing your entry. The text you write to describe or support your entry should also be clear and well-structured.
- Answer the questions on user-testing and results achieved as thoughtfully, accurately, and completely as possible. The information you provide here may become a deciding factor.
See more information on user testing here
A note about People’s Choice entries
Remember that you can’t enter anything from your own organisation. When you nominate a document or webpage for the People’s Choice category, you are acting as a member of the public.