I gave this presentation to the Content Strategy Applied Conference at eBay/PayPal in San Jose, CA. October 16, 2013. Large audience of content strategists learning about how plain language strategies can make content easy to understand.

1. What is Plain Language and
Why Should We Care?
Content Strategy Applied Conference
October 17-18, 2013
Deborah S. Bosley, Ph.D.
Owner and Principal | The Plain Language Group
deborah@theplainlanguagegroup.com
704.641.1334
Permission from TPLG needed to use any material in this presentation.

2. Real life Dilberts
• What I need is a list of unknown problems
we are likely to encounter. Lykes Shipping
• Email is not to be used to pass on data
or information, only company business.
Electric Boat Co.
• We know that communication is a
problem, but the company is not going
to discuss it with the employees.
AT&T
2

3. What have smart people said?
•
“Make everything as simple as
possible but not simpler.”
•
“If you can’t explain it, you
don’t understand it.”

4. What have smart people said?

5. What have smart people said?

6. The golden rule of communication
The golden rule of communication
• communicate unto others
• as they would communicate
unto themselves

7. What have smart people said?
•
"…words and data to create
unambiguous content that supports
meaningful, interactive experiences.”
-- Rachel Lovinger
•
Make content that’s relevant to people
by choosing words and sentence
structures to best meet communication
goals. – Rachel Lovinger
•
“Content is a‘verb,’not a noun.”
--- Deborah S. Bosley

8. Here’s where we’re going
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What are the problems?
What is plain language?
How do we know it works?
What laws require its use?
Why is plain language
important to content strategy?

9. 1. What are the emotional problems?
• angry public
• consumer fatigue
• frustration
• choices available
• lack of trust

10. 1. What are the emotional problems?
Terms of Service update
We are updating the Google Terms of Service.
The new
Terms will go live on November 11, 2013 and you can read them
here. Because many of you are allergic to legalese, here’s a plain
English summary for your convenience. We’ve made three changes:
First, clarifying how your Profile name and photo might appear in
Google products (including in reviews, advertising and other
commercial contexts). You can control whether your image and name
appear in ads via the Shared Endorsements setting.

11. 1. What are the disclosure problems?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
regulations and laws
cell phone bills
financial statements
insurance policies
internet | software agreements
internal policies (privacy, benefits)
mortgage contracts
credit card statements
Whatever the form, words, or experience,
it’s all branding.

12. 1. What are the communication problems?
• Disclosure ≠ communication
• Facts and accuracy ≠ understanding
• Information ≠ communication

13. 1. What are the trust problems?
Trust in business dropped
below 50% in U.S.

14. 1. What are the document problems?
Most transactional documents
• have sentences that are too long (40+)
• have dense, uninviting paragraphs
• lack specific details about steps | processes
• are wordy and use too much jargon
• sound like legalese or computer-speak or artificial
• lack sufficient headings and lists
• are illogically organized
• lack design that aids readability | skim-ability
• need tables, graphs, visuals
• include incomplete information (usually lacking “how?”)
• contain inconsistent information
14

15. 1. What are the website problems?
Some websites
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
do not get to the point
are wordy; too much jargon
sound like computer-speak
have dense paragraphs
lack design that aids readability
need more visuals to convey information
give too much information
15

16. plain language and legalese
The language of regulations

17. plain language and legalese

18. 1. What are the print vs web problems?
Blogs Use More Complex Language Than Old Media
by Haris Krijestorac June 4, 2010

19. 1. What are the people problems?
• decide in 5 seconds (or less);
• .5 seconds on website
• read 28% slower online
• use sites as reference
• read “just in time”
• interpret and create meaning
• explain to others
• phone for clarification

20. 1. What are the reading problems?
The Law of Least Effort
2002 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences

21. 1. What are the legal language problems?
• “Too many lawyers believe [that] it is
essential to legal English that one write as
pompously as possible, using words and phrases
that have long since disappeared from normal
English discourse.” Hon. Antonin Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court
• “Attorneys are not usually required to use
regulatory language. Such language usually
indicates what information must be included In a
disclosure, but not how it must be stated.”Joseph Kimble,
columnist for Michigan Bar Journal, legal professor at Thomas Cooley School of Law

22. 1. What are the content advice problems?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Does your content solve your customers' problems?
Does content match your audience's expectations?
Have you determined the purpose of your site?
Do you know your target audience?
Why would anybody visit my site a second or third time?
Is the content technically correct?
Do customers need the content?
Is the content current and updated frequently?
Can people find the content they're looking for?
• What’s missing?
• Can customers understand the content?

23. Before
Provision in fee agreement
Clients understand that any estimates provided be the
Firm of the magnitude of the expenses that will be
required at certain stages of any litigation asserting a
cause of action are not precise, and that the kinds and
amounts of expenses required are ultimately a function
of many conditions over which the Firm has little or no
control, particularly the extent to which the opposition
files pretrial motions and engages in its own discovery
requests, whether in the nature of interrogatories,
depositions, requests for production, or requests for
admission, or any other type of discovery allowed by
the rules of procedures in the forum in which the
dispute is pending. (110 words; 49th grade level)

24. After
Provision in fee agreement
A firm’s estimate are just that:
estimates. Conditions outside the
firm’s control, especially the other
side’s pretrial motions and discovery
requests, may raise or lower
expenses. (26 words; 12th grade)

25. Cell Phone Agreement: BEFORE
This Wireless Customer Agreement (this “Agreement”) is between the person or entity
(hereinafter referred to as “Customer,” “you” or “your”) that is the customer of record
and [Company B, Incorporated] (hereinafter referred to as “Company B,” “we,” “our” or
“us”). This Agreement, including the terms of service for wireless products, features,
applications and services (“Service(s)”) not otherwise described herein that are posted at
www.companyb.com, or devices, and any documents expressly referred to herein or
therein, make up the complete agreement between you and Company B and supersede
any and all prior agreements and understandings relating to the subject matter of this
Agreement. This Agreement is binding when Service is activated to your specific telephone
number(s) (each, a “Number”). The term “Unit,” “Equipment,” or “Device” means the
cellular receiving and transmitting equipment that is programmed with the Number.
You acknowledge that you are of legal age, have received a copy of this Agreement, and
have read and clearly understand its terms.
BY USING OUR SERVICES YOU ACCEPT ALL TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. PLEASE READ THIS
AGREEMENT CAREFULLY TO ENSURE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND EACH PROVISION,
INCLUDING OUR USE OF YOUR LOCATION INFORMATION (SEE SECTION 3.6). THIS
AGREEMENT REQUIRES THE USE OF ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS TO RESOLVE
DISPUTES, RATHER THAN JURY TRIALS OR CLASS ACTIONS, AND ALSO LIMITS THE
REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO YOU IN THE EVENT OF A DISPUTE. Grade 16

26. Cell Phone Agreement: AFTER
This Agreement sets out the terms of service for all the
wireless products, features, applications and services that
Company B provides you. This Agreement begins once we
activate your Service and replaces any prior agreements and
understandings between you and us.
Please read this Agreement carefully. Sign it only if
•You are of legal age in your province.
•You have read and clearly understand the terms of this
Agreement. If there is anything that you do not understand,
please ask your sales representative to explain it to you.
•You accept all the terms of this Agreement including
• our use of your location information (see Section 3.6)
• how we will resolve disputes (see Section 4.2).
Grade 7

27. 1. What are the understanding problems?
90% couldn’t identify correct amount of
up-front fees1
• 63% believe intentional complexity to
hide
information2
• 75% believe complexity and lack of
understanding played significant role in financial crisis3
• 84% more likely to trust companies that use jargon-free
language4
•
“Improving Consumer Mortgage Disclosures: An Empirical Assessment of Current and Prototype Disclosure Forms”: A Bureau of
Economics Staff Report (June 2007, FTC)
2,3
Siegel and Gale: Clarion Call for Transparency, January 4 Siegel and Gale: Mystery of Federal Agencies, March 2010
1

28. 1. What are the image problems?
• Study from Stanford University: 71 evaluated
writing samples: "moderately complex" to
"highly complex”
• As complexity increased, readers’ estimate
of author's intelligence declined.1
1
Oppenheimer, D. M. “Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems
with Using Long Words Needlessly.” Applied Cognitive Psychology. March 2006.

29. 2. What is plain language?
•
Plain language is the use of
proven writing and designing
strategies that make it easy for
your intended audience to find,
understand, and use information.
•
Clear | Concise | Credible
•
Concepts: behavior, reading
process, rhetoric, social constructionism,
visual and information processing,
linguistics, literacy, user design, and more…

30. Remember...
• No user ever complained
that information was
too easy to understand.
• users with low literacy struggle
to complete basic tasks1
• users with high literacy levels
also scored better when
website language was lower
level1
1
Angela Colter

31. 2. What is plain language?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
write for intended audience (readers)
organize for readers’ needs
use active voice
use pronouns
use positive language
be succinct
avoid jargon: use common words
be concrete; avoid ambiguity
write short sentences | paragraphs
use headings and lists
include visuals (tables, figures, photos etc.)
test document for readability
31

32. Duh! and Huh?

33. What do readers really want to know?

34. Medicare: BEFORE
• Investigators of the contractor will review the facts in
your case and decide the most appropriate course of
action. The first step taken with most Medicare health
care providers is to reeducate them about Medicare
regulations and policies. If the practice continues, the
contractor may conduct special audits of the providers
medical records. Often, the contractor recovers
overpayments to health care providers this way. If
there is sufficient evidence to show that the provider
is consistently violating Medicare policies, the
contractor will document the violations and ask the
Office of the Inspector General to prosecute the case.
This can lead to expulsion from the Medicare
program, civil monetary penalties, and imprisonment.

35. Medicare: AFTER
We will take two steps to look into this matter:
1. We will find out if this situation was
an error or fraud.
2. We will let you know the results in
approximately six weeks.
• More importantly, it answers the reader’s questions.

36. Reading ease
Before
After
111.00
34.00
# sentences
6.00
3.00
Average words per sentence
18.50
11.33
Gunning Fog Index (grade)
13.42
6.89
Flesch Reading Ease
31.81
# words
80.87 (60 standard)

37. 2. What is plain language?
Why design | visuals so critical:
• 43% likely to be persuaded
• 25 - 40% less time
• 38% better retention
• satisfies two modes of processing information

38. 2. What is plain language?
Text testing is easy:
• test with real users
• interview one-on-one
• use qualitative and quantitative approaches
• revise based on feedback

39. 3. How do we know it works?
•
Notre Dame:
corporations that use plain language
in shareholders communication
increase money investors bring into
their company.1
U of Nebraska: firms with high
corporate reputations use less varied,
shorter, and more concrete words than low
reputation firms.2
•
1
2
Loughran, T. and McDonald, W. Plain English, Working Paper, Mendoza College of Business.
Gebbart, J. and Lawrence, J. Predicting Firm Reputation Through Content Analysis of Shareholders’
Letters. Corporate Reputation Review. Vol. 11, No. 4, 284-307.

40. 3. How do we know it works?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
more likely to to be read
faster to read
easier to comply
strongly preferred
more easily understood
less likely to cause mistakes
caused fewer questions | fewer complaints
decreased some litigation
saved time and money

41. 4. What laws require plain language?
• CAARD: Credit Card Accountability
Responsibility & Disclosure Act of 2009
“clear and conspicuous”
•
ERISA: Employee Retirement Income Security
Act -- “written in a manner calculated to be
understood by the average plan participant”
•
Dodd-Frank: Requires all model disclosures to be
written in plain language; validated through testing
•
HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act

42. Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA)
“A covered entity can satisfy the plain
language requirement if it makes a
reasonable effort to
•
•
•
•
•
organize materials for readers
write short sentences in active voice
use “you” and other pronouns
use common words
divide materials into short sections.”
42

43. 4. What laws require plain language?
•
GLB: Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
Financial Privacy Notices
•
RESPA: Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
RESPA/TILA integrated disclosures with format using
plain language and highlights important terms.
•
NAIC: National Association of Insurance Commissioners
True readability requires disclosures using plain language that is
designed to facilitate consumer understanding including clear
organization and design.

44. 5. Why is plain language important
to content strategy?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
acquire closely related skills
meet compliance requirements
emphasize new branding
make values clear
manage risk
increase satisfaction
affect the bottom line

45. Resources
The Plain Language Group
www.theplainlanguagegroup.com
The Center for Plain Language:
http://www.centerforplainlanguage.org
Clarity: promotes plain legal language
http://www.clarity-international.net/
Plain Language Association InterNational
http://www.plainlanguagenetwork.org/