Plain Language Initiative Achieving clear, concise communication

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Plain Language Initiative Achieving clear,
concise communication
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Agenda

• Introduction ? Governor Crists Executive Order
• Plain Language Overview
• Organizing, writing and reviewing
• Moving Forward
• Information and Resources

The people of Florida are entitled to clear,
plain language that enables understandable
communication with state government. ? Governor
Crist
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Executive Order 07-01

• The Executive Order States
• Clear language that is commonly used by the
  intended audience
• Only the information needed by the recipient,
  presented in a logical sequence
• Short sentences written in the active voice that
  make it clear who is responsible for what
• Layout and design that help the reader understand
  the meaning on the first try

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Florida Face to Face January 4, 2007
Beth Switzers interview with Governor
CristVideo is available on the website
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• The Department of Children and Families
• Recognizes the importance of Plain Language
• Established Plain Language Workgroup
• Developed the department-wide implementation plan
• Completed statewide document inventory
• Developed document conversion plan
• Developed Plain Language training

• documents sent by my Office and these agencies
  contain clear and concise instructions and
  information. Executive Order 07-01

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Secretary Butterworth April 2007
Secretary Butterworths Endorsement Video is
available on the website
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Overview

• Common features
• Logical organization
• Active voice
• Short sentences
• Common, everyday words
• Use of pronouns
• Readable design

Clear, concise communication
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Logical Organization

• Put the main message first
• Divide your material into short sections
• Group related ideas together
• Put material in an order that makes the best
  sense to the reader
• Use informative headings

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Active and Passive Voice

• To know whether you are writing in the active or
  passive voice, identify the subject of the
  sentence and decide whether the subject is doing
  the action or being acted upon.
• Active Voice the subject does an action to an
  object.
• Mr. Doe (subject) completed (action) the
  application (object).
• Passive Voice the subject is the receiver of the
  action.
• The application (subject) was completed (action)
  by Mr. Doe.

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Short sentences, common words

• Before The following summary is intended only
  to highlight certain information contained
  elsewhere in this report
• After This summary highlights information
  contained in the report
• Wordy It is obvious that any modification will
  require a new application.
• Shorter Obviously, any change will require a
  new application.

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Pronouns

• Before This Summary does not purport to be
  complete and is qualified in its entirety by the
  more detailed information contained in the Proxy
  Statement and the Appendices hereto, all of which
  should be carefully reviewed.
• After Because this is a summary, it does not
  contain all the information that may be important
  to you. You should read the entire proxy
  statement and its appendices carefully before you
  decide how to vote.

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Design and Layout

• Steps to make your documents visually appealing
• Few characters in a line.
• Flush left alignment
• Sentence case
• Descriptive headers
• White space.

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Handouts

• Preferences
• Clutter and Wordiness
• Words and Phrases to Avoid

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Before and After

• Review of handouts
• Before Plain Language
• After Plain Language

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Readability Scores

• To see the readability scores, before spell
  checking your document
• Click Tools on the MS Word toolbar
• Select Options
• Select Spelling Grammar
• Under the Grammar heading, place a check mark
  in the box next to Show Readability Statistics
  and run the Spell Check.

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Moving Forward

• Document conversion
• Where do we go from here?

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Information and Resources

• http//centerforplainlanguage.org/
• http//www.flgov.com/pl_home
• http//www.plainlanguage.gov
• Plain Language Guide
• Associated Press Stylebook 2006
• Microsoft Word readability score
• CFOP 15-1 Correspondence Management

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Call to Action

• What is your role?
• Share the information
• Use the Plain Language website
• Promote Plain Language