Best Plain English Technical Communicator award
This award goes to the technical communicator who demonstrates the best use of plain English in technical documents.
Here is your chance to be recognised for the contribution you’ve made to producing clear, reader-friendly technical communication for your organisation or your clients.
What you need to know
A panel of three judges will assess the documents in your portfolio against internationally accepted principles of plain English. These principles cover structure, language, and layout.
The technical communicator must live and work in New Zealand.
Portfolio
Your portfolio can include up to five samples of your work. Your work samples may include: user manuals, help files, technical information bulletins, fact sheets, or any other documentation that communicates technical information clearly.
Choose samples that will clearly showcase your plain English skills and demonstrate excellent structure, language, and layout. We strongly encourage shorter entries. You must enter at least two whole documents. Extracts from longer documents are acceptable but should include the table of contents and front pages for context. The exceptions are Help files or other online material. Please present excerpts only as a combination of screen shots and text.
For each sample, please attach a cover sheet that includes:
- the purpose
- audience
- any other notes that will provide useful context for the judges.
Your documents should be in final published form where possible.
Prizes for this award
The winner of the Best Plain English Technical Communicator award will receive:
- a stunning steel and bronze trophy produced for the Awards by Wellington sculptor Campbell Maud
- the latest StyleWriter plain English editing software — single-user licence (from Editor Software UK)
- a place on any of Write Limited's 1-day public workshops.
Please email [email protected] if you have any questions.
Judging process for the Plain English Awards