Twelve of the thirteen awards honour positive effort and results. The thirteenth \u2018trophy\u2019 (really a stainless steel bin filled with sour lollies) goes to the winner of the dreaded \u2018Brainstrain\u2019 award. That award goes to the worst document or website nominated by a member of the public. For the unlucky organisation receiving that award, confusion wins!<\/p>\n

The Brainstrain award has a very positive side though. Very often, being nominated for a Brainstrain award is a wake-up call for its owner. Many use the nomination as an opportunity to look hard at their communication style and make really positive changes.<\/p>\n

The Brainstrain award, along with its counterpart \u2018Best Communication\u2019 award, is sponsored very appropriately by public watchdog Consumer NZ. Thanks to Consumer NZ\u2019s support, you can dob in a bad document, or praise an easy-to-read one.<\/p>\n

The Awards are offered by the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust, ably led by chair and well-known people\u2019s advocate Gregory Fortuin. Premier sponsor Write Limited does the\u00a0administration on behalf of the Trust.<\/p>\n

Absolutely! The process leading to success in the Awards transforms some organisations and individuals into zealous advocates for plain English. We\u2019re due to do another feedback survey early next year, but previous surveys have given us overwhelmingly positive comments from entrants and others. Here are a few of those comments:<\/p>\n

The Awards are the premier benchmark for high standards and achievement in plain English. Success in the Awards shows we\u2019re not only doing it [plain English], but doing it well and our expertise is being recognised.<\/p>\n

Winning the award has raised the bar.<\/p>\n

We were shocked by being a finalist for the Brainstrain Award. That spurred a huge project. I personally did lots of research on plain English and came up with our own web writing standards that exceed the e-government guidelines.<\/p>\n

The Awards also act as a public watchdog, highlighting examples of poor writing that are barriers to good communication and people achieving what they want to do.<\/p>\n

Who’s the clearest of them all?<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We talk to Lynda Harris, plain language advocate and the original inspiration behind the Plain English Awards. Lynda is Chief Executive at Write Limited, premier\u00a0Awards sponsor. The Awards are organised by the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust and are now in their twelfth year. What types of organisations enter the Awards? All types of organisations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n