Care about clarity? The People's Choice Awards are for you! Image by Alyssa Stevenson. Unsplash licence.
The People’s Choice Awards are the perfect opportunity for all organisations to get recognition for their clear communications.
Are you comfortable shouting from the rooftops about your fabulously clear documents? Or do you keep your clear communications a best-kept secret — just for your customers?
Whether you’re a tall poppy or a shrinking violet, the Plain English Awards are a great way to get recognition for all the great work you’re doing to make New Zealand a country of clarity.
How does your document or webpage get nominated for an Award?
You can’t enter it yourself — it’s up to members of the public to do that. That’s why they’re called the People’s Choice Awards, of course! But you’re more than welcome to point them in the right direction.
Shout from the rooftops
Have you got a great document that you think is worthy of the Best Communication Award? Why not use social media to let the world know. If people think your document is a great example of clear communication, they can nominate it in the Awards.
Encourage your customers
Let your customers know through your newsletters and website that you’d love them to show how much they admire your document by nominating it in the People’s Choice.
It’s free to nominate
Nominations are free of charge for the People’s Choice Awards. Here’s how people can nominate for the Best Communication Award
https://www.plainlanguageawards.org.nz/2019-peoples-choice-best-award/
Nicola Welby July 22nd, 2019
Posted In: 2019 People's Choice Awards
Tags: clear thinking, clear writing, Industry awards, jargon, jargon-busting, People's Choice Awards, writing for the public
What happens to the documents you've nominated once they're entered? Image by Lorie Shaull. Flickr licence.
Submitting your entry in this year’s People’s Choice Awards is one thing. What happens to your entry after that is another.
Your nomination joins the list so experts can decide who’s best and worst
After you submit a nomination, it joins a catalogue of other entries in our professional submission platform Submittable, where it’ll sit until entries officially close. Soon after that, the Awards administrators open up entries for the Best and Worst categories to their respective judging panels.
Our judges then sort through entries to come up with a shortlist, followed by a more in-depth assessment to create a list of finalists.
Finally, the judges decide which entries are our ultimate winners. This year’s winners will be announced on Thursday, 28 November.
The judges assess the entries using plain English criteria
Because our Awards are all about plain English, our judges use specific criteria to decide which entries are best and which are worst. These criteria are based on the following aspects of clear communication:
- Purpose
- Structure
- Usability (for websites)
- Headings and main messages
- Paragraphs
- Sentences
- Words
- Layout and presentation
Read more about our judging criteria
Find out how to nominate communications
Thanks to the Wellington band Fly My Pretties for being the inspiration for our blog title! Visit their website flymypretties.com
Nicola Welby July 17th, 2019
Posted In: 2019 People's Choice Awards, Judges
Tags: Brain Strain Award, clear thinking, clear writing, improved writing, Industry awards, jargon, jargon-busting, PEA, People's Choice Awards, plain English, Plain English Awards, plain language, power of plain English, writing for the public
Consumer NZ wants the best for New Zealand communication. Image by Daria Nepriakhina. Unsplash licence.
The Plain English Awards and Consumer NZ have something very important in common — we both want what’s best for New Zealanders.
The Plain English Awards is a not-for-profit charity that aims to raise the bar for clear communication. We want everyday New Zealanders to understand what’s written for them.
Consumer NZ is a non-profit organisation dedicated to getting New Zealanders a fairer deal. So it’ll be no surprise that Consumer NZ is a long-term supporter of the Plain English Awards. In particular, Consumer NZ has supported our People’s Choice categories for many years.
Consumer’s Chief Executive, Sue Chetwin, has been a member of our judging panel for several years, focusing specifically on our People’s Choice categories. She’s returning again this year as one of the panel judging our Worst Brainstrain category.
We’re sure you’ll join us too by nominating the best and the worst communications you find in your daily life. All of us want New Zealanders to be able to make legal, financial, health, and all sorts of other decisions with ease.
Take a look at what Consumer NZ has to say about this year’s People’s Choice Awards
Find out how to nominate documents here
Nicola Welby July 12th, 2019
Posted In: 2019 People's Choice Awards, Sponsors
Tags: Brain Strain Award, clear writing, Consumer NZ, Industry awards, PEA, People's Choice Awards, People's Choice Awards 2019, plain English, Plain English Awards, plain language, power of plain English, writing for the public
A helping hand can come from the most unlikely places. Image by Youssef Naddam. Unsplash licence.
In times of trouble, who might you expect to get help from? Friends, family, colleagues, or your close community all might offer to lend a hand. It’s not often that a complete stranger jumps in to help. Particularly one that’s disguised as an industry award with the title ‘Brainstrain’.
Meet your new friend — the Brainstrain Award
The People’s Choice Awards offer members of the public an opportunity to celebrate excellent communications and to draw attention to bad ones — through the Brainstrain Award.
Winning the Brainstrain Award is like being offered a helping hand from a stranger. We say ‘stranger’ because all nominations are anonymous (and free).
The ‘helping hand’ is an opportunity for the winner to turn their communication around and make it better than ever. (And maybe even enter the Turnaround Award in the next round of full Plain English Awards in 2020.)
The Brainstrain winner gets some plain English love
The winning nomination gets the unenviable title of ‘People’s Choice — Worst Brainstrain Communication’. Sure, the word ‘Brainstrain’ doesn’t sound that great. But when you read what else winners receive, the title becomes a little less ominous.
Our beloved Brainstrain winner receives not only the famous Brainstrain rubbish bin filled with sour worms, but also some very constructive feedback and training in the form of:
- feedback on their communication (and how it could be improved) from our expert panel of international judges
- the latest StyleWriter plain English editing software — single-user licence (from Editor Software)
- 2 hours free consultancy from Write Limited to start transforming the document or webpage into plain English
- a place on any of Write Limited’s 1-day open workshops to use before 31 March 2020.
Do your bit for improving New Zealand’s communication. Submit your nominations for this year’s Brainstrain Award
Nicola Welby June 26th, 2019
Posted In: 2019 People's Choice Awards, Brainstrain, Communications
Tags: Brainstrain, People's Choice Awards, plain language, Worst Brainstrain
Winning the People's Choice Award will have you jumping for joy. Image by Andre Hunter. Unsplash licence.
Whether you enter an award yourself or someone else nominates you, taking out a title brings plenty of benefits for the winner. This year’s People’s Choice Awards have prizes for the best — and the worst!
Best confirms that all your hard work was worth it
The highlight of winning our Best Plain English Communication category is probably the public recognition. Winners know that a member of the public thought something they created was a worthy entry for the Awards. And our international panel of judges thought it was the best in its class.
That’s not all though. Winners also receive:
- a stunning steel and bronze trophy produced for the Awards by Wellington sculptor Campbell Maud
- a single-use licence for StyleWriter plain English editing software
- a place on any of Write Limited’s 1-day open workshops.
Worst gives you a chance to turn things around
You might think that anyone ‘unlucky’ enough to win our Brainstrain category would have nothing to be happy about (except perhaps the bag of sour worms they’re given). But that’s definitely not the case. They actually have plenty to celebrate.
Winning the notorious Brainstrain category often acts as a catalyst for organisations to rethink their communications — and ultimately what their audience needs. Winners are forced to take a good hard look at the way they write, and work out how they can improve.
Winners get hugely valuable feedback from our judges about their communication. One previous winner used the feedback to revamp their communication. They did such an impressive job that it won the Best Plain English Turnaround Award the following year.
Winners of the Brainstrain category also receive:
- the (in)famous Brainstrain rubbish bin filled with sour worms
- a single-use licence for StyleWriter plain English editing software
- 2 hours free consultancy from Write Limited to start transforming the document or webpage into plain English
- a place on any of Write Limited’s 1-day open workshops.
Take a look at past Award winners on our website
Nicola Welby June 17th, 2019
Posted In: 2019 People's Choice Awards
Tags: Best Plain English Document, Brainstrain, People's Choice Awards, Plain English Awards, Plain English Awards 2019, Worst Brainstrain
Do you know someone whose writing makes you prickly? Nominate them for the 2019 Brainstrain award.
If you’ve been marking off the days on your calendar, you’ll know the time has come. Nominations for the 2019 People’s Choice Awards opened last Saturday.
Success worth being proud of
What we love about the People’s Choice Awards, and what many of you have told us you love too, is how our winners react to their success. Winners of our People’s Choice Best category are invariably enormously proud — and rightly so! Who wouldn’t be? Your work will have been singled out by a member of the public, judged against other outstanding entries, and deemed by the international judging panel to be the best!
Recognition to take in good humour
What about the winner of our award for the worst communication? Our Worst Brainstrain category recognises a document or website that a member of the public has found confusing, frustrating, obscure, or downright horrible. With all the potential fallout from winning this unenviable title, we love that our winners invariably accept their ‘success’ in good humour. And they see it as an opportunity to start over again, so that their communication serves its audience better.
Check out the acceptance speeches by some past winners of the People’s Choice Worst Brainstrain award:
Nicola Welby June 5th, 2019
Posted In: 2019 People's Choice Awards, Brainstrain, Winners
Tags: Best Plain English Document, Brainstrain, People's Choice, Worst Brainstrain
Is your writing like a can of worms? Image by Sam Howzit, Creative Commons 2.0 licence.
You’re in for a plain English treat over the next couple of years. This year we’re pushing the People’s Choice Awards to the fore (we’ll be back with the full Awards next year). So right now, in 2019, we’re giving all of you in the public domain the chance to nominate your most and least favourite communications.
Here are three great reasons to get involved this year.
You want to do something about frustratingly confusing communications
When you nominate a communication for the not-so-coveted Brainstrain award, you’ll be helping to make a positive difference to the way organisations communicate. Almost without exception, organisations step up to ‘take it on the chin’ when nominated for the dreaded bin of sour worm lollies. With the public scrutiny they get from winning the Brainstrain category, they’re motivated to change.
You want to share a wonderful example of clear communication with the world
We love to celebrate the great work happening in so many organisations that are improving the way they communicate. Winning the award for Best Plain English Communication is a public pat on the back for New Zealand’s clearest communicators. Help them get the recognition they deserve.
You want to help improve the lives of everyday Kiwis
The People’s Choice Awards help organisations to keep things real with their communications. If they win the Best Plain English Communication award, they’re recognised for getting things right for their audience. If, however, they win the dreaded Brainstrain award, they have plenty of incentive to change for the good.
Don’t muck about. It’s time to send your nominations for this year’s People’s Choice Awards!
Nicola Welby May 27th, 2019
Posted In: 2019 People's Choice Awards, Industry awards, People, Social good
Tags: Brainstrain, clear thinking, jargon, jargon-busting, People's Choice
It's time for the public to have their say! Image by Jon Tyson. Unsplash licence
We’re ready to roll with the Awards in 2019 — and we’ve got some exciting plans to tell you about.
We’ll alternate between the Plain English Awards and the People’s Choice Awards
As you might imagine, it takes a tonne of support and time and resources to bring together annual awards. We’re now in our 14th year, and we know that our momentum is strong and that people’s appetite for plain English continues to grow.
After lots of planning and consideration, we’ve decided to alternate between having the full Plain English Awards one year and the People’s Choice Awards the next. Having held the full Awards last year in 2018, this means we’re focusing on the People’s Choice only in 2019.
Some of you will remember that the idea of holding the People’s Choice Awards on their own is actually not a new one. You may recall we held them on their own in 2016, to coincide with the Clarity2016 conference here in Wellington.
Entries for this year’s People’s Choice Awards will open on Saturday, 1 June
Once entries are open, members of the public will be able to nominate an outstanding communication of their choice for the People’s Choice — Best Plain English Communication.
People will also be able to nominate a miserable communication for the notorious People’s Choice — Worst Brainstrain Communication.
Entries in the People’s Choice Awards are free and will be judged by a panel of plain language specialists from New Zealand and overseas.
We’re planning a mid-year Awards ceremony
Another result of our planning is that we’ve decided to aim for a mid-year ceremony. Traditionally we’ve celebrated our winners in November. However, after this year, entries will open near the end of the year and we’ll celebrate winners the following winter. Because who doesn’t love a good mid-winter celebration?!
What about next year’s full Plain English Awards?
Entries for the 2020 Plain English Awards will open in November this year. We’ll give you plenty of information before then, so keep your eye out for our newsletters and other publicity. Subscribe to our newsletter
Thanks for following and supporting the annual Plain English Awards. You all play a big part in making these Awards a valuable and exciting event.
Nicola Welby May 9th, 2019
Posted In: 2019 People's Choice Awards, Communications, Industry awards, People's Choice awards
Tags: Brain Strain Awards, People's Choice Awards, Plain English Awards
