People understand the costs of doing business in terms of equipment, staff, property and taxes. But what about the cost of communication? All activities related to written communications in your company come with a cost. Done well, your communications can help your bottom line; done poorly, and they can harm it.
Poor writing can result in lost customers, increased complaints, lower productivity and more errors. Why does poor writing happen? We may simply lack the training required to write clearly and well. Also, in today’s busy corporate environments, we often don’t have the time to write as effectively as we would like.
Many businesses and governments are learning the value of effective writing: it can increase customer satisfaction and employee morale, reduce complaints and confusion and increase company profits.
The Allen-Bradbury Corporation1 is an excellent example of how written communications can help a company lose money or make money. Allen-Bradbury makes programmable controllers. Each controller comes with a user manual that gives instruction on its use and answers frequently asked questions. The original manuals were not reader-friendly: they weren’t clear and the language was hard to understand.
Because of the poorly written manuals, Allen-Bradbury received 50 phone calls each day from frustrated users. Their staff wasted hours responding to questions the manuals should have answered. Allen-Bradbury made the wise decision to rewrite the manuals into plain language. The result? User questions were reduced from 50 a day to just two a month. Imagine the cost savings from not having to solve so many problems!
How can you improve your writing to support your business’s bottom line and communicate more effectively? We suggest using plain language. Plain language is a writing style that puts the focus on your readers. When you write in plain language, your reader will understand your documents quickly, ask fewer follow up questions and comply more accurately with requirements. Documents written in plain language have clear wording, structure and design. Here are some of the features of plain language writing.
- Choosing the most simple or common vocabulary words to convey the meaning, generally one- or two-syllable words.
- Keeping the average sentence to between 15 and 20 words.
- Using a simple sentence structure such as subject – predicate – object – modifiers. For example: The health clinic is open for the well-baby clinic every Tuesday morning.
- Choosing to use active rather than passive verbs when it keeps the message clear and simple (“We suggest” rather than “It is suggested that”).
- Using a conversational style with personal pronouns.
- Avoiding jargon that may be unfamiliar to your audience (using “bruise” in a medical resource for families rather than the medical term “hematoma”).
- Using bullet points to share key points.
Plain language developments worldwide PLAIN Canada
PLAIN Canada, a national organization for plain language supporters, has compiled a list of Canadian plain language resources that highlights the federal and provincial plain language projects.
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada’s Directive on the Management of Communications requires that plain language is used in all communications with the public. Also, the Government of Canada has a technical committee on plain language that is identifying where persons with disabilities may face barriers because information is not provided in plain language. To improve accessibility, the technical committee will set a national standard or standards to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to information that is provided in plain language.
ISO Standard
The International Plain Language Federation was founded in 2007 by members of three organizations:
Members are working together to promote the public benefits of using plain language and improve professional practice. They expect to publish an ISO Plain Language Standard in 2023.
New Zealand Plain Language Act
New Zealand recently passed a Plain Language Act. Officials are now required to use plain language when they communicate with the public. Those in favour of the act say plain language is more inclusive for people who speak English as a second language, people with disabilities and for those with lower levels of education.
If you have any questions for us, please email us at administration@eclectic.ca. We’d love to hear from you.
1. Jereb, B. “Plain English on the plant floor.” Plain Language: Principles and Practice (1991): 83–92. Print.
