Plain Language Is the Foundation Your AI Implementation Is Missing
Plain Language Is the Foundation Your AI Implementation Is Missing When local governments talk about AI implementation, the conversation usually starts in the…
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Category: Plain Language
Plain Language is Needed When Big Financial News Sounds Like a Foreign Language
When Big Financial News Sounds Like a Foreign Language This week, a major cryptocurrency exchange announced it had received a Federal Reserve master account —…
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A New Year Wish: Clarity
A New Year Wish: Clarity At the start of every new year, we talk about resolutions, new initiatives, new tools, new ways of working. But after years of working…
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Plain Language for Knowledge Management: From Clear Documentation to Operational Intelligence
Plain Language for Knowledge Management: From Clear Documentation to Operational Intelligence Clear Communication Can Formalize Operational…
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Plain Language Guide, Style Guide, or Both?
Plain Language Guide, Style Guide, or Both? Where Does Plain Language End and Editorial Style Begin? And Why Your Organization Needs Two Separate Guides A…
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Plain Language Has No Political Color Because It Supports Everyone
Plain Language Has No Political Color — And Europe Is Proving It Today marks an exciting moment in the trajectory of plain language: the European Parliament…
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A Stronger Plain Language Framework: Why My Five Principles Strengthen ISO 24495-1
Plain Language Framework: Why RAISE™ Five Principles Go Beyond ISO 24495-1 Different frameworks inevitably reflect the emphasis placed on different aspects of…
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A Visual Plain Language Guide Comes to Life: visualizing the RAISE™ Framework in 10 Steps
The Visual Plain Language Guide began as a doodle. I sketched a triangle between a reader, the form we were trying to improve, and the cumbersome process…
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Digital Accessibility: WCAG and Section 508
Digital Accessibility Blog Digital accessibility means opening doors to digital content to people with disabilities. To us it is a subset of accessibility in…
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AI in Writing Summit: Free Event to 3X your Creativity, Impact, and Income
Press Release: AI in Writing Summit AI in Writing Summit: Empowering Plain Language Professionals with Cutting-Edge Technology FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monterey,…
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Announcing the Plain Language Podcast! Elementary: Let’s Make it Crystal Clear.
Today, we’re thrilled to announce the imminent launch of our new Podcast “Elementary: Let’s Make it Crystal Clear. The Podcast about Plain Language.” Each…
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Debunking the Myth that Science Communication and Plain Language are Opposites
In 2014, the EU approved a regulation for the mandatory provision of plain language summaries of all clinical trials with ties to the EU. Five years later, the…
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Respect and Tolerance: Plain Language can Help!
We can all do our part to keep each other safe, to promote respect, to care for our planet. In this moment of painful events–that bear witness to how much work…
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Pizza, Wine and… Manhole Covers? The Importance of a Human in the Loop to Keep Words in Context and Context in Words
In a recent series of edits and translations, I found myself repeatedly fixing “isotopic breaks” that AI or inexperienced writers and translators had missed.…
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Event 201 Explained: a Pandemic Simulation about a Fictional Coronavirus (not Covid-19)
In October 2019, the World Economic Forum, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation worked on a pandemic…
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The Unintended Good from an Unexpected Evil: Covid-19 Effects on Nature, Will They Last?
Covid-19 is causing the most disruptive effect on lifestyle seen in the 21st century. The news on global climate change didn’t prompt people to change habits.…
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The Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 and Plain Language
The virus is spreading as a disease (so far over 90,000 people infected and over 3,000 dead) but is also spreading a lot of confusion. As a pathogen (a cause…
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Health Literacy is Multidimensional
Health Literacy has been understood as literacy applied to health information. But we now know that communication is a dialogue, so even at the federal level,…
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Is Plain Language Worth It?
I was asked this question by a group of non-fiction writers. The bottom line: all content developers, even marketers and advertisers, can learn a huge deal…
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Plain Language Principles
How do we promote successful written communication? “Plain language is clear language. It is simple and direct but not simplistic or patronizing.” Nick Wright…
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Don’t “you know?” Them: Turning the “Teach-Back” Technique Around on Doctors for Patient Advocacy
Language is key at the doctor’s office. Improving physician-patient communication can have huge benefits. In fact, an AHRQ study found that after implementing…
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New Plain Language 2.0 and Health Literacy Course at Plain Language Academy
I am so excited to announce that I have partnered with Plain Language academy to teach my new course Plain Language 2.0 and Health Literacy. In case you didn’t…
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3 Things No One Ever Taught You About Subjects in Grammar
If you grunt at the sight of the word “grammar,” you are not alone. But, I’m here to tell you it is a conditioned response to utterly bad English teachers. If…
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3 Decluttering Mistakes You’re Making When Revising Your Text
So you have a first draft. And it feels great, doesn’t it? It just needs revising. And you have the best intentions. You set out to tighten the text and…
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Beyond Readability Formulas
Why beyond readability formulas? Because they are simply a temperature reading of text, one of many diagnostic strategies. During ACES 2019, the annual…
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Passives are Peaceful, not Limp
In my latest article on the ATA Chronicle, the flagship publication of the American Translators Association, I explore passive voice. The title of the article…
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