Plain English

1
Plain English

• Keep it simple!

2
Passive to active

• Active voice (doer-action-receiver) is shorter
  and much more straightforward.
• Before (passive) My refinishing job was
  rejected by the autobody manager.
• After (active) The autobody manager rejected my
  refinishing job.

3
Passive3 cases for

• Passive voice is not illegal, but you should try
  to always use the active voice, except for the
  following three cases
• You dont know the doer.
• You dont want to blame the doer.
• You dont care who the doer is.

4
Positive tone(avoid double negatives)

• Make sure you convert two negatives to a
  positive.
• Make sure the message is clearer when its
  positive. Many cautions and warnings are best
  left as a negative, eg, Dont point compressed
  air at anyone.Before It is a bad idea not to
  review the procedure before priming the
  metallized part.After It is a good idea to
  review the procedure before priming the
  metallized part.

5
Wasted words

• Wasted words either dont need to be in the
  sentence, or can be simplified.
• clichés
• idioms
• low info content
• useless repetition
• jargon

6
Clichés

• Avoid using cliches they are overused and have
  little meaning.

• as a matter of fact
• at this point in time
• enclosed herewith
• it has come to our attention that
• in our opinion

• in reference to
• in the matter of
• last but not least
• please feel free to
• you are hereby advised

7
Idioms

• Avoid idioms. They are unprofessional and confuse
  people. 
• as clear as day
• keep your eye on it
• busy as a bee
• wrapped around the axle
• playing with fire
• reinvent the wheel
• Before We should keep an eye on the compressor
  failure rates.After We should
  monitor?track?record? compressor failure rates.

8
Low information content

• Before In a majority of cases, the clear coat
  can be used.After In most cases, the clear coat
  can be used.
• Try some LIC exercises on my website, under Neat
  Stuff.

9
Jargon

• Many people say you shouldnt use jargon, but in
  many cases you must. Ensure you use jargon that
  your intended audience will understand. 
• The RAM in my HP5P is accessed from the CPU in my
  586 via a parallel interface bus.

10
Useless repetition

• Useless repetition may sound impressive, but it
  obscures your information
• Although we had alternative choices, the end
  result was equally as effective as what our past
  experiences had predicted.

11
Vague Words

• There were many fatalities in the past few
  years.        How many?        Exactly when? 

12
Nouns to Verbs

• Use active verbsBefore The group arrived at the
  decision to undercoat the equipment.After The
  group decided to undercoat the equipment.
• Check words that end in sion, -tion, and ment
• E.g.made plans plannedcome to the
  conclusion concludetook into consideration consid
  ered

13
List items in a parallel (the same grammatical)
form.

• Instead of
• Three good work habits are
• 1. Setting priorities
• 2. You should finish what you start
• 3. It is important to do your best
• Use
• Three good work habits are
• 1. Setting priorities
• 2. Finishing what you start
• 3. Doing your best