Maryland Spencer

Writer, editor, trainer, consultant – formidable gibberish opponent,
WriteBrand Communications NZ, Wellington, New Zealand

When my tutors at the London School of Journalism as well as the Yale/Oxford Information Mapping model all called waffly, fancy, formal language ‘ego-speak’, I saw a problem.

My mission (and I chose to accept it) is to ‘seek and destroy’ bafflegab and red-pen ego-speak. This battle won me two of these wonderful Plain Language Awards, and an Award of Distinction. Destroying gibberish and duplications halves the size of a chunky tome and future-proofs legal risks from ambiguities.

I love adding a touch of colour and fun to a formal tone. It engages people so they actually read stuff, which is great for compliance. I also love the psychology behind how that works.

I promote clarity, audience targeting, ‘at a glance’ structures to find info fast, 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