So that you’re ready when the time comes, here are the dates you need to know for the 2020 Awards.

• Entries open: Tuesday, 31 March
• Entries close: Friday, 29 May
• Shortlist announced: Thursday, 18 June
• Finalists announced: Thursday, 23 July
• Winners announced: Thursday, 20 August

Find out more about entering the 2020 Plain English Awards
Email us to find out about sponsorship options for next year’s Awards

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Chloe’s background and interests make her the perfect fit for the role of patron. The Trust and the working group that organises the Awards are thrilled to have her on board.

Chloe herself is equally thrilled!

‘I’m honoured that you’ve invited me to be patron of the Plain English Awards. I can see the huge potential in the Plain English Awards, and commend you for what you’ve achieved in the past 14 years. The Awards’ goals of making plain English a natural part of everyday business and government communication is something I strongly support.

‘So often people don’t want to say that they can’t understand an official document or form. They think it’s because they lack some knowledge or skill — when mostly the problem lies in the writing they’re trying to untangle.

‘I’m going to embrace being patron of the Plain English Awards, because I’m passionate about championing people’s right to understand.’

Read more about Chloe Wright
Find out more about the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust

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Meet your new friend — the Brainstrain Award

The People’s Choice Awards offer members of the public an opportunity to celebrate excellent communications and to draw attention to bad ones — through the Brainstrain Award.

Winning the Brainstrain Award is like being offered a helping hand from a stranger. We say ‘stranger’ because all nominations are anonymous (and free).

The ‘helping hand’ is an opportunity for the winner to turn their communication around and make it better than ever. (And maybe even enter the Turnaround Award in the next round of full Plain English Awards in 2020.)

The Brainstrain winner gets some plain English love

The winning nomination gets the unenviable title of ‘People’s Choice — Worst Brainstrain Communication’. Sure, the word ‘Brainstrain’ doesn’t sound that great. But when you read what else winners receive, the title becomes a little less ominous.

Our beloved Brainstrain winner receives not only the famous Brainstrain rubbish bin filled with sour worms, but also some very constructive feedback and training in the form of:

• feedback on their communication (and how it could be improved) from our expert panel of international judges
• the latest StyleWriter plain English editing software — single-user licence (from Editor Software)
• 2 hours free consultancy from Write Limited to start transforming the document or webpage into plain English
• a place on any of Write Limited’s 1-day open workshops to use before 31 March 2020.

Do your bit for improving New Zealand’s communication. Submit your nominations for this year’s Brainstrain Award

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We’re ready to roll with the Awards in 2019 — and we’ve got some exciting plans to tell you about.

We’ll alternate between the Plain English Awards and the People’s Choice Awards

As you might imagine, it takes a tonne of support and time and resources to bring together annual awards. We’re now in our 14th year, and we know that our momentum is strong and that people’s appetite for plain English continues to grow.

After lots of planning and consideration, we’ve decided to alternate between having the full Plain English Awards one year and the People’s Choice Awards the next. Having held the full Awards last year in 2018, this means we’re focusing on the People’s Choice only in 2019.

Some of you will remember that the idea of holding the People’s Choice Awards on their own is actually not a new one. You may recall we held them on their own in 2016, to coincide with the Clarity2016 conference here in Wellington.

Entries for this year’s People’s Choice Awards will open on Saturday, 1 June

Once entries are open, members of the public will be able to nominate an outstanding communication of their choice for the People’s Choice — Best Plain English Communication.

People will also be able to nominate a miserable communication for the notorious People’s Choice — Worst Brainstrain Communication.

Entries in the People’s Choice Awards are free and will be judged by a panel of plain language specialists from New Zealand and overseas.

We’re planning a mid-year Awards ceremony

Another result of our planning is that we’ve decided to aim for a mid-year ceremony. Traditionally we’ve celebrated our winners in November. However, after this year, entries will open near the end of the year and we’ll celebrate winners the following winter. Because who doesn’t love a good mid-winter celebration?!

What about next year’s full Plain English Awards?

Entries for the 2020 Plain English Awards will open in November this year. We’ll give you plenty of information before then, so keep your eye out for our newsletters and other publicity. Subscribe to our newsletter

Thanks for following and supporting the annual Plain English Awards. You all play a big part in making these Awards a valuable and exciting event.

The post We’re ready to roll with the 2019 Awards! appeared first on Plain English Awards.

Read on for part 1 of the inspiring speech given by Lynda Harris, Awards founder and CE of main sponsor Write Limited, at the 2018 Plain English Awards

Good evening! Let me start with a question: Why are you here? What prompted you to enter the annual Plain English Awards? What brought you along tonight?

I’m pretty sure that you’re here because you care. You care about the cause. You care about the ideal of plain language because you understand the cost, in both financial and human terms, of poorly conceived and written communications. You care about wasted effort, wasted time, and wasted money.

And you care about the enormous disadvantage that poor writing can bring, especially when the communications are about access to justice, or help of some kind, or are connected with legal, financial, or health services.

It was the very same notion of care that prompted us, 13 years ago, to set up these Awards.

It was because they cared that our foundation sponsors, Consumer, TechCommNZ, and Graphic Solutions came on board, as did our other wonderful sponsors who followed.

And it was also that notion of care that led us to establish the WriteMark Plain Language Standard, now cleverly rebranded by Craig Christensen to reflect that central idea of — you got it — care.

The thought I’d like to leave you with tonight is that, rather than thinking of care as simply an emotion connected with plain language, let’s recognise that care has tremendous value in its own right. Care can be a powerful catalyst for action if we follow through on what we feel prompted to do.

I came to this conclusion after preparing for a presentation at Clarity2018 in Montreal recently. The conference was attended by over 500 delegates from around the world, most of them lawyers. In my presentation I explored the idea that having a set of strong, people-based values baked into the firm’s mission might lead naturally to clearer, more accessible law.

I interviewed several B Corp law firms in Australia and Canada. B Corps are accredited organisations that believe business can be a force for good in the world.

What struck me was that in each conversation the people I interviewed used the word care — a lot. They also used another word: ‘believe’. As they spoke about what they believed in, their values, and precisely what they care about, became clear.

Here’s what three of those firms said.

Alexandra Doig from Atticus values care in communication

I loved my interview with Alexandra Doig, Managing Partner of Atticus Lawyers in Melbourne, Australia. With strong convictions about human rights, Alexandra chose to get B Corp accreditation several years ago. Her core philosophy, ‘We believe in treating people as they would want to be treated’, shone through our entire conversation.

It’s not often you hear a lawyer say, ‘We want everyone to feel comfortable all of the time. We know clients are already stressed with the issue. We aim to reduce that stress and make them feel happier … create a safe space … feel that we are their cheerleaders.’

I asked Alexandra the all-important question: Does your chief value of ‘care’ influence the way you write to your clients? The answer: ‘Yes. Telling people what they need to know, and doing all we can to help, means we need to write like a human. We need to communicate clearly and personally in ways that don’t alienate. We can’t give a client a convoluted document. We have to walk the talk and act on what we believe in.

‘We could write a ten-page document. We try to write a one-pager that clearly captures the most important info, and that the client can easily understand and be comfortable with. It’s a calculated risk — with benefits.

‘We want to write in a way that gives clients that lightbulb moment. If a client doesn’t walk away with a greater understanding of their position than they had when they arrived, we haven’t done our job properly.’

Bravo, Alexandra!

Joel Cranshaw from Clearpoint. believes in simple legal services

Joel’s strapline on his website says it all: ‘Legal services — reimagined simply.’ With a background as an experienced corporate lawyer, Joel said he’d always loved solving client problems. But as time went on, he felt less and less comfortable in a system based on chargeable units. ‘I felt there was no incentive to be efficient, and this often led to friction between client and lawyer.’

Prompted by strong values that focused on serving the client in the best way possible, Joel conceived Clearpoint’s unusual model, where they work on retainer for small to medium-sized firms in Melbourne and beyond. Achieving B Corp status was a natural fit.

Joel is a straight talker: ‘We want to work with compassionate people who value what we do and whose approach aligns with the concept of conscious capitalism. We don’t work with clients who don’t have our values.’

When asked if his values-based approach created clearer law, Joel’s answer was unequivocal: ‘Yes! I say that for two reasons. Our retainer-based fee model means that we must work efficiently — so we must be clear, concise, and to the point. And what we believe in, our philosophical approach to compassionately meeting clients’ needs, also means that we must communicate in ways they can readily understand.’

Applause once more from me!

Sophie Tremblay from Novalex runs a purpose-driven business

Sophie’s was a bold start-up story — similar to the Suspended Coffee movement (buy a coffee, pay for two — those who can’t afford to pay get coffee for free). Sophie and her business partner Ryan Hillier set up Novalex to have a self-sufficient business model, serving both corporate clients and others who need legal help. Neither an exclusively for-profit business, nor an exclusively philanthropic organisation, Novalex is a purpose-driven enterprise doing business for good. For every fee-paying hour, they give a pro-bono hour to eligible start-ups, non-profits, or individuals.

In Sophie’s words, ‘We believe everyone should have access to justice and top-notch legal advice. We hope that corporate clients will see using Novalex as a socially responsible choice. And we hope to give back in any way we can.’

Does this values-based model create clearer law? Sophie: ‘Absolutely! We know that even the smartest people aren’t necessarily familiar with legal terms and concepts. So a huge part of what we do is to make the law understandable. We use concrete examples and remove the abstract, along with many other techniques such as metaphor (“It’s like…”), and “This means…” We remove jargon and make important concepts stand out. We do what we need to do to be understood.’

Care intuitively leads to plain language

Hearing this long list of useful and well-founded plain language techniques, I asked Sophie if she had ever had any formal plain language training. She hadn’t. Nor had Alexandra or Joel. Yet instinctively, motivated by strong human values and a sense of care, all three ticked so many plain language boxes.

My hypothesis was looking good — all three firms proving that care really can be a shortcut to plain language. Admittedly my sample size was only three, but these inspiring leaders and others like them are truly showing the way to clearer law using an approach based on care.

Find out more about each of the three firms here:

Atticus

Clearpoint.

Novalex

Find out more about the WriteMark Plain Language Standard

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What makes an entry good enough to become a finalist? According to our judges, it’s all about being like this:

• ‘Overall, we have a strong example of how a company can take complex information and share the details both with clarity and with compelling storytelling. Kudos!’
• ‘I would certainly use this product as an example of effective plain writing and information design.’
• ‘This is an exemplary document.’

Now the countdown begins to our Awards ceremony on Thursday, 15 November, where we’ll announce and celebrate this year’s winners. Watch this space for details about how to get tickets.

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In the meantime we can let you in on some of the feedback we’ve had about this year’s entries. Here’s what one judge told us:

I’m pleased to report we have many excellent entries (quality lifts every year, which is fabulous) and it’s tricky coming up with a shortlist.

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Judges for the 2018 Plain English Awards

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Winning an award is the best way to have your work recognised — or your team’s. And for business or technical writers, or people working in communications, the annual Plain English Awards are as good as it gets.

Tips for success from those in the know

In the build-up to the opening of this year’s Plain English Awards, we held a Trophy Tips Seminar in Wellington last month. We also broadcast this seminar through Facebook Live.

Before the seminar, we surveyed former winners and judges of the Awards to gather some tips for aspiring winners. While responses varied slightly, their main messages were clear and simple.

Best advice for aspiring winners

In short, the people we surveyed said that winning entries demonstrated similar traits.

• Short sentences
• Crystal-clear headings
• Readers’ needs prioritised

Common mistakes to avoid

To ensure your entry gets through the first phase of judging, survey respondents recommended that entrants avoid some common pitfalls.

• Unclear headings
• Long-windedness
• Excessive wordiness
• Poorly organised content

For more tips on how to submit a winning entry in the 2018 Plain English Awards, view our Trophy Tips Seminar.

Get in touch if you have any questions

You’re welcome to ask questions at any time: [email protected]. We’re here to help! See more about the Awards on our website.

The post How to be a winner in the 2018 Plain English Awards appeared first on Plain English Awards.

How about, ‘This site was our clear and unanimous winner! We hope plain-writing professionals and trainers will use it as a good example of plain writing principles’? Or what about, ‘What’s not to like?’ And even, ‘It’s hard to see how the writers could have helped the readers more’?

The responses we’ve listed above are all true-blue pieces of feedback from judges at last year’s Plain English Awards. What kind of feedback do you think you’d get?

Going the extra mile for readers

Every year the Plain English Awards honours those individuals and organisations who have gone the extra mile to get the best outcomes for their readers. The Awards are a public pat on the back for plain English champions. They help to raise the bar for clear communication.

To decide on our champions, independent panels of plain English experts and advocates judge entries and decide on who’s best in each category. This year the Awards has 13 different categories to enter (or to be entered in).

Are you ready to be in the running?

Entries for the 2018 Plain English Awards are open. You have 3 months to get your entries in before they close on Friday, 31 August.

Enter the 2018 Plain English Awards through our website.

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