Wordnerdery Sue Horner’s monthly tips on words and ways to reach readers – September 2022

Issue 115 – September 2022

CLEAR THE WAY TO BETTER WRITING

Plain writing is “writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience.”

Not-so-clear view through rain on a window by Blagoja on Pixabay.

Can managers be better writers?

Of course, and some of my clients have asked me for advice to help achieve that admirable goal.

The thing is, most companies judge their people by how well they handle their specific jobs. While clear writing would help managers communicate, writing doesn’t usually come up in a performance review. That means anyone writing long and confusing memos has no incentive to stop it. And who has time to take a course or read a book to improve?

Rather than courses or books, I expect this group would prefer a short tipsheet once in a while. If there’s already a regular weekly or monthly roundup of tips for managers, that’s a perfect spot to include a short section with writing tips.

One of the things I would start with is encouraging plain language. Don’t let your engineers, scientists, lawyers and others who like to use big words (sorry, I don’t mean to be insulting!) complain this is “dumbing down” the words; it’s not. Plain language is simply this, according to the U.S. government’s Plain Writing Act of 2010:

Writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience.

And who could argue with the intent of plain language? It’s to help busy readers:

Here are a dozen specific plain writing tips:

Know the expertise and interest of your average readers, and write to them.
Focus on the main thing your readers want or need to know. This helps you come up with your opening sentence (the most important information) and the structure of the rest of your piece (any background or instructions).
Use transitions like “these,” “for instance” and “in addition” to link paragraphs and thoughts.
Use short, familiar words rather than longer, formal words, like “use” instead of “utilize.”
Use contractions wherever they sound natural. “Don’t” over “do not,” “you’re” over “you are” sounds friendlier.
Use the strongest, most direct form of verbs. Instead “to gain understanding of,” say, “to understand.” Watch out for words that end in -ment (“make a payment” instead of “pay”), -tion (“application” instead of “apply) and -ance (“the performance of” instead of “perform”).
Use the active voice to show who is responsible for what. Not the passive “The information must be included” but the active “You must include…”
Use short sentences. Aim for an average nine to 14 words for 90-99% understanding. Reader understanding drops to less than 10% after 42 words, according to the American Press Institute.
Use short paragraphs, lists and tables to break up the text and make it easier to read.
Avoid legal language, like “aforementioned,” “heretofore,” “whatsoever.” If your legal folks insist on the full “including but not limited to” laundry list, keep the more understandable version in your document and link to the formal language elsewhere. (See my blog post about “losing the legalese.”)
Lose the jargon, like “circling back” and “agile.” Sure, we all see it everywhere, but your message will be easier to read without it. Also, you’ll be seen as more trustworthy if you aren’t hiding behind jargon. (See my blog post about 100+ buzzwords and jargon.)
Try not to use so many abbreviations. Aim for no more than three in a document, and try not to pile them all into one sentence. If you abbreviate the name of a committee, for instance, it’s OK to refer to it later as “the committee” rather than its initials. And a project team can be just that, not a PT.

If you have a specific problem with emails or memos within the company, look for common issues. Too wordy? Too full of jargon? Base your suggestions on the most common problems.

Among the reminders specific to emails:

Use a clear subject line. Nothing vague like “Document.” Be specific: “Agenda to review before meeting on Thursday.”
Update the subject line if responses go back and forth and the conversation goes off on a tangent.
Get to the point. What does the reader need to do? Skip the long preamble and state the reason for the email in the first paragraph. Be specific about what you're asking for and give a timeline.
Be conversational. Imagine you’re saying the words out loud to a friend.

How the Hemingway app highlights writing that's hard to read..

Want to give a quick impression of how easy it will be to read something? Copy and paste the text into the Hemingway app. It instantly shows sentences that are dense and hard to read with a pinky-red highlight. It also points out words or phrases that have a simpler alternative, and helpfully suggests it.

Find more tips and examples for plain language writing at PlainLanguage.gov.

What are your best tips to help managers be better writers? I’d love to hear.

Email me!

Related reading:

Everybody Writes: Your New and Improved Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content, 2nd Edition (out October 25); by Ann Handley

Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer, by Roy Peter Clark

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