Dob in a bad document or praise an easy-to-read one!

The People’s Choice category has two awards:

• Best Plain English Communication
• Worst ‘Brainstrain’ Communication

Nominations for the People’s Choice category are free.

People’s Choice — Worst ‘Brainstrain’ Communication

The People’s Choice — Worst ‘Brainstrain’ Communication award reveals, in good humour, the document or website most notable for confusing and dumbfounding its target audience with obscurity and gobbledygook.

By putting these confusing documents and webpages under the spotlight, we hope that the organisations responsible will rewrite them in beautifully plain English.

What you need to know

The ideal entry for the Worst ‘Brainstrain’ Communication award is a publicly available or widely used document or website that causes problems for many people.

Documents or webpages nominated in the WriteMark Plain English Awards People’s Choice category must:

• be whole documents or webpages, not extracts
• be in current use for business purposes
• be owned by an organisation that operates in New Zealand
• not be owned by the organisation you work for
• not be a book, or an extract of a book.

The Plain English Awards Trust agree to keep your details confidential. (Your details will not be revealed to the judges or to the organisations you nominate.)

Prizes for this award

Thanks to your nomination, the organisation named as the winner of the People’s Choice — Worst ‘Brainstrain’ Communication award will receive:

• the famous ‘Brainstrain’ rubbish bin filled with sour worms
• 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 website into plain English
• a place on any of Write Limited’s 1-day public workshops.

Submit your nomination

Nominations for the 2019 People’s Choice Awards open on 1 June 2019.

To enter the 2019 Awards, use the button below. Please email enquiries@plainlanguageawards.org.nz if you have any questions.

People’s Choice — Best Plain English Communication

The People’s Choice — Best Plain English Communication award honours the most outstanding example of a plain English document or webpage nominated by a member of the public.

Just imagine a world where your insurance documents, legal contracts, application forms, and other important pieces of information were nice and clear.  The more that we all speak up and demand plain English, the easier it is for everyone!

What you need to know

Documents or webpages nominated in the WriteMark Plain English Awards People’s Choice category must:

• be whole documents or webpages, not extracts
• be in current use for business purposes
• be owned by an organisation that operates in New Zealand
• not be owned by the organisation you work for
• not be a book, or an extract of a book.

The Plain English Awards Trust agree to keep your details confidential. (Your details will not be revealed to the judges or to the organisations you nominate.)

Prizes for this award

Thanks to your nomination, the organisation named as the winner of the People’s Choice — Best Plain English Communication award will receive:

• a stunning steel and bronze trophy produced for the Awards by Wellington sculptor Campbell Maud
• the latest StyleWriter plain English editing software — single-user licence (from Editor Software)
• a place on any of Write Limited’s 1-day public workshops.

Submit your nomination

Nominations for the 2019 People’s Choice Awards open on 1 June 2019.

To enter the 2019 Awards, use the button below. Please email enquiries@plainlanguageawards.org.nz if you have any questions.