Lead judge: Best Plain Language Sentence Transformation

Writer, editor, trainer, consultant: WriteBrand Communications, Wellington, New Zealand

Maryland’s plain English journey began at the London School of Journalism, with later New Zealand developments in the Yale/Oxford Information Mapping model. She noted that both Fleet Street and Info Mappers called fancy-schmancy lingo ‘ego-speak’ and realised it was a globally recognised nonsense.

Her mission — and she chose to accept it — is to ‘seek and destroy’ bafflegab and red-pen the ego-speak. This attitude won her a couple of these Awards beauties, and an Award of Distinction.

Destroying gibberish and duplications halves a chunky tome and future-proofs legal risk. Adding a tone of ‘fun and colour’ makes people actually read stuff.

She promotes clarity, audience targeting, ‘at a glance’ structures, and the sparkle and personality of a company’s brand. It makes dry dusty docs blossom into easy reads that can be digested without the need for Metamucil.

View Maryland’s video in our gallery

Meet the judges for the Plain Language Awards

How the judging process works