Best Practice - Plain Language

Plain Language Action and Information Network

(PLAIN)

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Objectives

We will learn:• The definition of plain language• Requirements of the Plain Writing Act• How using plain language saves your

organization time and money• Key plain language techniques• How to develop your own program• Where to find resources

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What is Plain Language?

Plain Language is communication that:

– Your audience will understand the first time they read or hear it

– Enables your audience to:• Find what they need• Understand what they find • Use what they need to meet their needs

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Why Use Plain Language?

Plain Language gets your message out clearly

Clear messages equal:• Improved compliance• Fewer complaints to resolve• Less to print and mail • More efficient use of staff time

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Experts Like It Simple

• So you’re writing for brain surgeons?– Sure, they can understand the medical jargon

and complex sentences when they aren’t busy…– But how about in the middle of SURGERY?

• Studies found attorneys take 2x as long to translate legalese. No wonder they charge clients by the hour.

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Plain Language – It’s the Law• Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires federal

agencies to use clear communication that the public can understand.

• It covers print and web documents that:– Are needed to get federal benefits or services or for

filing taxes– Provide information about benefits or services– Explain how to comply with requirements

administered or enforced by the federal government

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Plain Language – It’s the Law

What does my agency need to do?• Create a plain writing section of its website --

PLAIN has already written model language for you to use

• Follow OMB–issued Guidance - Agencies may follow the Federal Plain Language

Guidelines

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Plain Language – It’s the Law

By July 13, 2011 agencies must:• Designate a senior official for "plain writing" • Explain the Act's requirements to staff • Establish a procedure to oversee the implementation of

the Act within the agency • Train agency staff in plain writing • Designate staff as points of contact for the agency plain

writing webpage • Post its compliance plan for meeting the requirements

of the Act on its plain language webpage

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Plain Language – It’s the Law

• OMB must issue final guidance by April 13, 2011.• The Act becomes effective on October 13, 2011

• Starting on Oct. 13:– Agencies must use plain language in public facing

documents– Write annual compliance reports and post them on

its plain language webpage

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Easy-to-Understand Regulations

The Act does not cover regulations• 3 separate Executive Orders emphasize the

need for plain language– E.O. 13563 Improving Regulation and Regulatory

Review– E.O. 12866 Regulatory planning and review– E.O. 12988 Civil Justice Reform

• Best Practices for Federal Agencies

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Benefits of Plain Language

Plain Language makes sense to your audience and it makes you cents when you use it.

Who uses plain language:• Corporations• State governments • Federal agencies • Foreign governments

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Washington State 1

Department of Revenue rewrote its requirements for use-tax collections:

Tripled number of businesses voluntarily paying use-tax from 3% to 9%

Goal: $1.2 million extra revenue in first year Actual: $2 million extra collected

Cost: 1 cent for every dollar collected

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Washington State 2

Dept. of Licensing (drivers’ licenses) rewrote a notice telling people their license had been suspended.

Hotline busy signals declined 95%, and each day 850 more people reached the hotline, instead of getting a busy signal.

3 FTEs were transferred to help customers in other ways.

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Canadian Forms Project

• Canadian government clarified 92 different forms.

• About 1,000,000 copies of the forms are used each year.

• Because there were fewer errors on the forms, processing time for government staff declined about 10 minutes for each form.

• In all, the government saves about 10 FTEs a year in processing time.

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Veterans Benefit Administration

• Every several years, the VBA sends a letter to all veterans, asking them to update their beneficiaries.

• If a veteran dies and the VBA does not have a valid beneficiary listed in their files, the VBA must identify a valid beneficiary through research.

• Each research project costs the agency several thousand dollars in staff time.

• VBA decided to rewrite the letter into plain language to try to improve the response rate.

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Veterans Benefit Administration

Results from revised letter:

Letter requesting beneficiary

Response rate Estimated savings in each mailing cycle

Old letter 43 %

Plain Language letter

65 % $5 million in staff time

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Key Plain Language Techniques

• Identify and write for your audience• Use active voice• Keep paragraphs and sentences short• Limit jargon, legalese and acronyms

For a complete list of techniques see the:

Federal Plain Language GuidelinesFederal Plain Language Guidelines

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Write for your Audience

Put yourself in your reader’s shoes

• Who is my audience?• What are the needs and objectives of the

audience?• What does my audience already know about

the subject?• What questions will my audience have?

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Veterans Affairs LetterPlease furnish medical evidence in support of your pension claim. The best evidence to submit would be a report of a recent examination by your personal physician, or a report from a hospital or clinic that has treated you recently. The report should include complete findings and diagnoses of the condition which renders you permanently and totally disabled. It is not necessary for you to receive an examination at this time. We only need a report from a doctor, hospital, or clinic that has treated you recently. This evidence should be submitted as soon as possible, preferably within 60 days. If we do not receive this information within 1 year from the date of this letter, your pension claim will be denied.

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Plain Language Revision

What We Need

We need more information from you in order to process your pension claim. Please send us a medical report from a doctor or clinic that you visited in the past six months. The report should show why you can't work.

When We Need It

We need the doctor's report by [date]. We'll have to turn down your pension claim if we don't get the report by that date.

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Use Common Words

INSTEAD OF USE

Anticipate Expect

Commence Begin, Start

Contiguous to Bordering on, Next to

Effectuate Carry out, Bring about

Implement Begin, Start

Prior to Before

Pursuant to Under

Utilize Use

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Active Voice Video

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Use Active Voice

Be transparent! Show who or what is doing the action upfront.

Instead of: New regulations were proposed.

Use: The Department of Transportation proposed new regulations.

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Use Active Voice

Active Voice:• Eliminates ambiguity:

– Passive: “It must be done.”– Active: “You must do it.”

• Emphasizes important messages– Passive: “O-ring temperature will be achieved at 32

degrees.”– Active: “The O-rings will fail at 32 degrees.”

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Keep It Short

There is no escaping the fact that it is considered very important to note that a number of various available applicable studies ipso facto have generally identified the fact that additional appropriate nocturnal employment could usually keep juvenile adolescents off thoroughfares during the night hours, including but not limited to the time prior to midnight on weeknights and/or 2 a.m. on weekends.

62 words

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Keep It Short

“The most valuable of all talents is never using two words when one will do.”

~Thomas Jefferson

More night jobs would keep kids off the streets.

9 words

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Jargon and Acronyms

• Avoid obscure and archaic language – Example: Hereby, Wherefore, ab initio

• Use language your audience is familiar with– Instead of: The patient is being given positive-pressure

ventilatory support. – Use: The patient is on a respirator.

• Define your acronyms – You may use your Transportation Worker Identification

Credential (TWIC) at airport checkpoints.

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Define Your Acronyms

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Avoid Legalese

Instead of:• Pursuant to 8 CFR part 3, an appeal shall lie from a

decision of an immigration judge to the Board of Immigration Appeals, except that no appeal shall lie from an order of removal entered in absentia.

Use:• You may appeal a decision of an immigration judge to

the Board of Immigration Appeals, unless the judge ordered your removal when you were not physically present at the hearing.  See 8 CFR part 3.

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Start Your Own Program

First make sure your organization: • Understands what Plain Language is• Is on the same page: 1 training program for the

entire organization• Identifies key “pain points” and works to

improve those documents first• Looks for small successes and aim for

continuous improvements

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Have High Level Support

Your program will fail without top level support!

• Your senior managers need to be plain language champions

• Have top level messages promote plain language• Encourage managers to attend plain language class• Have regular meetings to brief management on your

program

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Program Tips

• Have training classes often (once a month or once a quarter)

• Offer class to HQ and the field • Send broadcast messages to remind

employees about the importance of clear writing

• Create an electronic writing guide accessible to workforce

• Make educational videos• Create a recognition program

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Resources

PLAIN monthly meetings– Held the 2nd Wednesday of each month.

• PLAIN’s website: www.plainlanguage.gov• Federal Plain Language Guidelines• PLAIN offers free, half day plain language

classes to federal agencies– You can have your trainers take the class and

develop an agency specific training class based on our class.