So often we hear stories about the people behind a plain English initiative in an organisation. To make sure these people get their own time to shine, we’ve got a Champion award — for the Best Individual or Team.

These sometimes unsung heroes are those who’ve worked hard to make plain English a reality in their organisation.

Are you a plain English hero in your organisation? Here are a few signs that you need to enter for Best Individual or Team — of course, we know you’ll be able to think of many more!

You’ve talked to your leaders about the need for a plain English project

You’re the one who went to the management or board meeting and talked about all the good reasons for starting a plain English project (large or small).

Or maybe your team got the project started, and took proof of the benefits to management to advocate for wider adoption of plain English throughout the organisation.

If you’re a plain English leader, we recommend you enter and get industry-wide recognition.

You’ve trained your colleagues in plain English

Not content to be the only plain English writer in your team or business, you’ve created a programme of training. You’re spreading the word about the advantages of plain English and giving your colleagues tools and techniques to help them write more clearly.

Perhaps you make sure you include a slot at team meetings on plain English tips — and that slot has become the highlight of the meetings.

Or are you the go-to person or team that is consulted before a major report goes out or content is loaded on the website?

If you’ve become indispensable as guide or mentor for people who want to write clearly, it’s time to get that entry in.

You’ve produced resources to support clear writing

You’ve compiled all you know into a resource for your organisation — a writing how-to, or brand guidance on clear writing. You’ve created intranet resources and newsletter articles to help build a culture of clear communication.

Or perhaps you decided those terrible templates had to go. You’ve restructured, rewritten, and rebuilt templates to make standard communications easier to produce — and easier for the target audience to receive and understand.

Sometimes this background work needs to be brought to the fore — enter the Champion category and let your light shine!

Read about last year’s winner

Find out if your organisation is a contender for the Best Organisation category

Enter the Awards

The post How not to be an unsung hero appeared first on Plain English Awards.