Media release: 7 May 2021
After holding off entries last year, the full Plain English Awards are back in 2021. The Awards will look a little different this year, with a virtual ceremony and some new ways for entrants to share their inspiring work in clear communication.
Fresh Awards with a new theme
This year’s theme for the Awards is Story. We’re inviting the public to share the stories behind their plain language projects in short videos. We’ll showcase these videos in a gallery to inspire and enlighten the wider public. The video gallery is open now.
‘A major goal for the Awards has always been to bring plain language into common use,’ says chair of the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust, Gregory Fortuin. ‘We know that stories raise awareness and inspire action. The more visible the stories of our entrants, the more sparks of possibility and innovation will be lit.’
All the familiar categories are back
This year’s Awards will feature all categories, including the two People’s Choice categories for Best Communication and the infamous Brainstrain.
‘As we’ve seen in the events of 2020 and beyond, clear communication makes a real difference in people’s lives,’ Gregory says. ‘Here’s a chance to celebrate all the great work that people having been doing over the past couple of years.’
Important dates for the 2021 Awards
- 1 June: Entries open
- 31 July: Entries close
- 30 September: Finalists announced
- 14 October: Winners announced
Big thanks to our media partner, Newsroom
The goodwill and support of our sponsorship partners keeps the Plain English Awards ticking. We’re immensely grateful to New Zealand-based news and current affairs site, Newsroom.co.nz for believing in our cause and being our media partner.
ENDS
Get more information
www.plainlanguageawards.org.nz
Jonathan Tan, project manager, 2021 Plain English Awards | enquiries@plainlanguageawards.org.nz
OR
Gregory Fortuin, Chair, WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust | 021 465 254
Nicola Welby May 7th, 2021
Posted In: 2021 Plain English Awards, Communications, Media release, Plain English Awards, Story theme
Tags: 2021 Plain English Awards, Best communication, Best Plain English Communication, Brainstrain, clear communication, People's Choice, plain English, Plain English Awards, plain language, recognition, writing for the public
Are you the Champion we're looking for? Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash
Are you one of our award-winning plain language Champions? After a break of almost 3 years, our premier Champion categories are back: Best Organisation and Best Individual or Team. The Award for Best Organisation is highly sought-after and you’ll join an elite band of past winners.
We know for sure that the judging team is looking forward to hearing about your plain language project. But how do you know whether the time is right to enter the Best Organisation category?
Here are five clues to help you decide if it’s your organisation’s time to shine. If any one of them is true, we recommend you enter!
1. Your organisation champions and celebrates clear communication
Clear communication is something your organisation values and rewards. Your leadership team walks the talk, promoting the benefits of clear communication throughout your organisation. You may even have gone the extra mile by working towards an external mark of quality like the WriteMark or WriteMark Plus.
Your internal documents, such as brand guidelines, policies, and newsletters, are written in plain language. Role descriptions emphasise the need to write clearly. Perhaps you even have formal KPIs for using plain language.
Let your industry peers know you’re a leader by entering the Champion category.
2. You’ve noticed better business results from clearer communication
You’ve got case studies or numbers that show improvement. Achieving a measurable return on your investment in business writing is evidence of Champion performance.
You recognise writing is more than an everyday activity in business — it can be a way to improve business success.
If you’ve cracked it, you deserve a medal!
3. You’ve had great feedback from customers about your communication style
Your customers value the way you communicate. Getting praise from customers for using plain language is praise indeed! People don’t offer praise lightly. They’re much more likely to complain about poor communication — or to say nothing at all.
Great feedback for your communication style shows you’re getting your message across in a way your customers appreciate.
We’d like to hear what brought about that success — and to tell the world about it!
4. You train your people in better business writing
Organisations that commit to a plain language culture offer their people resources and training. Writing in plain language takes skill and effort.
You train your staff to write clearly, which gives them a step up. They enjoy their writing more, and they write more efficiently.
Good on you for giving your people the tools they need to write well. That’s worth celebrating too!
5. Your organisation encourages peer review of print and online content
Peer review at key stages of a writing project is expected. People in your organisation seek out peer review as they can see the value in another person’s critique. Your peer review process uses a checklist or standard and is part of a defined process to achieve quality.
Reviewing and feedback can take place through user-testing too. Do you regularly seek feedback from real readers on your communications?
Good systems and processes are key to a Champion mindset. Enter the Awards and get some well-deserved external recognition for your work.
Preparing your Champion entry
Find out how to enter our Champion categories
Read the criteria for our Champion categories
Anne-Marie Chisnall May 5th, 2021
Posted In: 2021 Plain English Awards, Communications, Industry awards, Plain English Awards, Plain English Champion
Tags: 2021 Plain English Awards, Best Organisation, Champion, clear communication, clear writing, Industry awards, Plain English Awards, Plain English Champion
Graphic Solutions believes clear design brings out the best in a communication. Photo by Crissy Jarvis on Unsplash
The Plain Language Awards owes a huge amount to design sponsor Graphic Solutions. This boutique Wellington-based design company has sponsored the Awards for many years now!
Craig Christensen is the inspired designer behind our favourite Awards catchcry ‘Who’s the clearest of them all?’ Craig has infused the Awards brand with bold colour and quirky, eye-catching icons.
Read Craig’s story behind the Awards branding
Craig has always been a keen supporter of clear communication and of the Awards, and says becoming a sponsor was an easy decision to make. He believes in the intimate link between clear communication and clear design, so he welcomed the opportunity to sponsor a cause so closely related to his professional practice.
Good design starts with good content. Clear, well-designed, and well-planned content means your messages get through with less effort.
We agree!
Read more about why Graphic Solutions chooses to sponsor the Awards
Anne-Marie Chisnall April 22nd, 2021
Posted In: 2021 Plain English Awards, Sponsors
Tags: clear communication, design, Graphic Solutions, sponsors, Sponsorship
The Write team believes in the power of words for good. Photo by Jess O'Brien Photographer
Sister companies Write and WriteMark are the founding sponsors of the Plain English Awards — New Zealand’s celebration of clear communicators. With the Awards returning in 2021, both Write and WriteMark are renewing their support.
This year, Write has an extra-special reason to commit to the Awards. As Write has just become a certified B Corporation, CE Lynda Harris feels an even greater commitment to the Awards as yet another way of demonstrating impact in the world.
Lynda explains:
We believe that people have the ethical and democratic right to understand communications that are central to their lives — government forms, legal documents, financial applications and agreements, terms and conditions, and more.
Ultimately, we want people to be able to understand critical information easily, and to make key life decisions based on that information being as clear as possible.
Getting the plain language message out
The Awards celebrate the communicators who create clear, accessible documents and websites. And in doing so, the Awards help to share the message that we all benefit from plain language in so many ways.
Plain language enables us all to participate more easily in society and make important legal, financial, and health decisions based on better understanding. That’s got to be a good outcome!
Are you willing to join the call?
A plain language approach to communication means truly committing to putting customers and colleagues first — a culture-changing shift in how business and society operate. Our sponsors are joining the call for fairer, clearer communication from all sectors.
If you’re interested in supporting the 2021 Plain English Awards, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you, and we’d love to have you on our team.
Meet our sponsors
Become a sponsor
Anne-Marie Chisnall April 7th, 2021
Posted In: 2021 Plain English Awards, Communications, Sponsorship
Tags: 2021 Plain English Awards, clear communication, Industry awards, sponsors, Write Limited, WriteMark
Share the stories of your plain language projects and inspire others! Photo by S O C I A L . C U T on Unsplash
This year, we’re introducing something new to shine a spotlight on the amazing achievements of our entrants and supporters.
We’re inviting you to share videos telling the story behind your document, project, or passion, or to tell your story of why plain language matters to you.
Why share your stories?
We’re all keen to see what a plain language approach is like in action, and the work you’ve done to achieve it.
Your stories are a chance for you to acknowledge the hard work that your team has put into the project. Your stories will showcase the thinking, planning, and drafting that goes into producing plain language content.
We hope your stories will inspire others to see how plain language can make a difference in people’s lives. No story is too big or too small!
Share your plain language story
Your stories will form part of a video gallery
We’ll showcase your stories on a gallery on the Plain English Awards website so that together we can inspire, challenge, and enlighten others. Your videos will be promoted in our newsletter, and will appear alongside those from other individuals and organisations. The story gallery will be a wonderful resource to share with your own audiences too.
As Awards project manager Jonny puts it:
It’s clear to us that, every year, projects and documents that are entered into the Plain English Awards have often taken a lot of thought and effort. Previously, our judges have been the only ones to see and enjoy your work.
In 2021 we want to know why you used a plain language approach. We also want to celebrate the positive impact that plain language has on organisations, customers, and the public.
View stories of plain language in our gallery
Discover some of our previous winners
Find out more about the entry process
Anne-Marie Chisnall April 7th, 2021
Posted In: 2021 Plain English Awards
Tags: clarity, clear communication, plain language, Story
Well done to our patron, Chloe, who was recognised as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2021 New Year Honours List.
We couldn’t be more proud of our generous patron, Chloe Wright. In recognition of her enormous commitment to philanthropy, education, and health, Chloe was awarded an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit at the start of 2021.
An exemplar of kindness and care
In 1996, Chloe and her husband Wayne co-founded BestStart Educare, an early learning education organisation. BestStart is now New Zealand’s largest early learning organisation and is run under the Wright Family Foundation. This foundation provides funds and assistance to improve the educational, emotional, and psychological wellbeing of New Zealanders.
As well as carrying out her philanthropic work through the Wright Family Foundation, Chloe founded Birthing Centre in 2014, which now has four locations. Birthing Centre is a service offering extensive postnatal support to new mothers and their babies. Its vision is to work in partnership with families to effect an informed, active, and natural birthing experience.
Chloe is also patron of SuperGrans Aotearoa, Kids’ Lit Quiz, the New Zealand Spelling Bee … and of course the Plain Language Awards!
Chloe believes passionately in the goals of the Awards. She wants to see plain language as the norm in government and business communication — so that information is clear and easy to access for everyone.
Chloe’s enthusiasm for, and dedication to, all the causes she supports is truly remarkable. Congratulations, Chloe! We’re so grateful for her support as Awards patron.
Meet our Awards patron
Interested in sponsoring?
If you’re interested in supporting the Plain Language Awards, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you, and we’d love to work with you.
Please contact Hellie to find out about sponsor benefits at enquiries@plainlanguageawards.org.nz
Become a sponsor
Melissa Wardell March 23rd, 2021
Posted In: 2021 Plain English Awards, Social good, Sponsors, Sponsorship
Tags: clarity, patron, sponsors, Sponsorship, Wright Family Foundation
The beauty of helping anyone out is in the end result. Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash
Remember the time you helped your cousin learn to ride a bike? Or made your mother breakfast in bed on Mother’s Day? Or picked your friend’s children up from school when your friend got caught in a meeting?
The beauty of helping anyone out is in the end result. It’s the look of exhilaration when you let the bike go and your cousin takes off on his own. The smile on your mother’s face and the appreciation she feels when you treat her. The relief you give your friend, who can finish the meeting he’s in without worrying about his children.
Sponsoring the Awards is like all of these examples. By supporting us to run the Plain English Awards, you’re helping to promote good. Just like the smile on your mother’s face at Mother’s Day, you’ll directly and indirectly be helping to make a difference. That smile will be the equivalent of a patient who understands their medical treatment for the first time. Or someone going through a personal emergency that understands his or her insurance cover immediately.
Sponsoring the Awards shows you support a fairer society
A plain language approach to communication is a radical commitment to putting customers and colleagues first — a culture-changing shift in how society operates. Our sponsors sit alongside us on the journey, adding a new voice to the chorus calling for fair and clear communication from private and public sector organisations. Our sponsors become part of our Awards team.
If you’re interested in supporting the 2021 Plain English Awards, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you, and we’d love to work with you.
Please contact Melissa to find out about sponsor benefits at enquiries@plainlanguageawards.org.nz
Become a sponsor
Meet our sponsors
Melissa Wardell March 18th, 2021
Posted In: 2021 Plain English Awards, Communications, Plain English Awards, Sponsors, Sponsorship
Tags: 2021 Plain English Awards, appreciation, Awards team, clarity, clear communication, make a difference, sponsor, sponsor benefits, sponsoring, Sponsorship, support the Awards
Great news! The Plain English Awards are back for 2021. Photo by Natalia Łyczko on Unsplash
Here’s the news we know lots of you have been waiting for — the Plain English Awards are back for 2021! They’ll look a little different this year, with a virtual ceremony and some new ways to share your inspiring work in clear communication.
Fresh Awards with a new theme
This year’s Awards will have the theme of Story. We’ll be inviting all entrants to share the stories behind their plain language projects in short videos. We’ll showcase your stories on the Awards website so that others can be inspired and enlightened by your work.
As Awards patron Chloe Wright puts it:
We need to be innovative and adapt to the current circumstances. I’m right behind the idea of sharing stories and as a storyteller myself, I will love reading of these experiences.
The Awards aim to bring plain language into common use and raise awareness in the community. So we hope the stories you share will show others the what, why, and how of your projects. You’ll get the opportunity to share what excites you about plain language, and the impact your work has had on the world.
Watch for more guidance soon on our Story theme.
All the familiar categories are back
We’ll have all categories available in 2021, including the two People’s Choice categories for Best Communication and the infamous Brainstrain.
Entries will open soon. Meanwhile put your thinking caps on and start creating the stories behind your potential entries.
Read about the 3-step process for entering the 2021 Awards
Take a note of these key dates
Here are the key dates we’ve planned so far for the 2021 Awards.
- Mid-April: Video story submissions open
- 1 June: Entries open
- 2 August: Entries close
- 16 September: Finalists announced
- 14 October: Winners announced
Let’s keep in touch
Sign up to our newsletter for the latest news
And if you’re interested in sponsoring the 2021 Awards, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact Melissa to find out about sponsor benefits at enquiries@plainlanguageawards.org.nz
Anne-Marie Chisnall March 3rd, 2021
Posted In: 2021 Plain English Awards
Tags: clear communication, People's Choice, Plain English Awards, plain language, recognition, sponsors, Story, video submission
