Plain Language Awards

Celebrate the stories of our clearest business communicators

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Champion organisations and individuals are leaders in clear communication | Photo by Occasionalclimber on excio.io


Lynda Harris, Awards founder and CE of our principal sponsor Write, is a champion of champion plain language organisations. Read on to find out why.

I’ve always been proud to reserve sponsorship of the award for Plain Language Champion — Best Organisation for Write Limited. You’d have to wrestle it from me! That’s because the Champion award embodies all the qualities of people and organisations that have worked hard to empower others through plain language.

‘Champion’ means being ‘the winner’ — the best, the highest achiever, the standard-setter, the model for others to follow. And we applaud that! But also it includes the concept of being an advocate — or a champion for a cause.

Plain language champions believe in the power of clarity and are proud to share their ideals with the world.


Leadership sets a champion organisation apart

An organisation that wins the Plain Language Champion — Best Organisation category will have many characteristics that set it apart from others. A champion organisation will be able to show evidence of deliberately choosing to use plain language throughout the whole organisation. To do this successfully, they will have to make their expectations clear from the top.

For example, the chief executive and senior leaders of a champion organisation will talk about the ‘why’ of plain language. They and their management teams will encourage and support others to adopt a clear style of communicating both internally and externally. They won’t hold back from promoting the connection between clarity and their organisation’s values.

They will understand and be able to articulate the value that clear communication has for their organisation, their brand, their customers, and ultimately society as a whole.

Champion organisations celebrate the benefits of clear communication — things like greater job satisfaction and improved workplace culture, along with better customer retention, greater trust, and a reputation for doing good work.

Be inspired by the 2021 Best Organisation


The judges look for evidence in a winning champion portfolio

Evidence to back up your claims is essential to a winning portfolio! The judges look for evidence of a wholehearted commitment to making plain language the expected standard across the whole organisation. As a bonus, evidence of impact in the community will be compelling too.

In a plain language organisation, you’ll be able to see evidence that the CEO and senior team have stated their strong expectation for a culture of plain language. That means things like:

  • everyone considers their reader in every piece of communication, both internal and external
  • everyone knows what good looks like and writes to an agreed plain language standard
  • senior people and other advocates model plain language practice
  • helpful resources including plain language champions are readily available to help writers.

In other words, plain language is woven into the fabric of the organisation so that:

  • documents are consistently clear and reader-friendly
  • feedback and measurable results demonstrate the effect of plain language.

Individuals and teams are honoured too

The Awards also celebrate individuals and teams that have achieved great things with a plain language project. The Plain Language Champion — Best Individual or Team award honours the people who work hard to make plain language a reality in their organisation.

The award is open to individuals or teams who have significantly contributed to a plain language initiative in any New Zealand or Australian organisation. For example, you might have:

  • convinced senior management or others of influence to support a plain language initiative
  • led a plain language project — large or small
  • run training or team meetings on plain language topics
  • helped other writers to produce clear, reader-friendly content
  • written newsletter articles or intranet resources about plain language topics
  • rewritten template letters into plain language.

Feel free to nominate yourself, your team, or someone else you work with.

Meet the 2021 Best Individual or Team


Write’s sponsorship celebrates plain language organisations

Lynda explains what’s behind Write sponsoring the Champion category.

You can see that everything about this category is dear to Write’s heart. Our purpose is to use words for the power of good by helping organisations and individuals get more value and impact from business communication. Ultimately we help build a fairer, more respectful society.

We see the Plain Language Awards as another way we can showcase the benefits of clear communication. Sponsoring the Champion category is one way we can celebrate other organisations doing their bit towards a society where people are able to participate more easily.

Read about Write and its B Corp status


Get your entry portfolio ready!

Entries must be in by 31 July and the Champion categories need a portfolio of evidence — so don’t delay!

Read the entry criteria and prizes for the Champion categories

See other clues that your organisation is a champion of clear communication

Posted In: 2022 Plain Language Awards, Plain Language Champion

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A line-up of the best for 2022 | Photo by Nicola Welby


Congratulations to all our 2021 winners — what a fabulous achievement! Our judges were so impressed with the quality of entries this year and you deserve all the praise you’ve received.

We loved hearing the plain language stories that you shared with us. And we’re proud that you’ve kept the torch burning bright for clear communication in such a busy year. So pat yourselves on the back for a job well done!


Our Awards champions — raising the bar for clear communication

An extra special shoutout to Citizens Advice Bureau New Zealand, winner of the Plain English Champion — Best Organisation category. And another one to Lauren Kelindeman from Legalite in Australia, winner of the Plain English Champion — Best Individual or Team category. Your contributions to the plain language movement are making all the difference to the lives of everyone in our corner of the world.

As our founder Lynda Harris said,

Whether you’re a bold visionary, a passionate campaigner, or a quiet doer, you have qualities that the world needs more of. You have stories to tell about people who need clarity and connection. And you have the skills to inspire others to be champions like you.

So keep up the good fight and stand up for what’s right! Because you’re our champions for 2021 and we couldn’t be more proud.


Find out more about the 2021 winners

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So often we hear stories about the people behind a plain English initiative in an organisation. To make sure these people get their own time to shine, we’ve got a Champion award — for the Best Individual or Team.

These sometimes unsung heroes are those who’ve worked hard to make plain English a reality in their organisation.

Are you a plain English hero in your organisation? Here are a few signs that you need to enter for Best Individual or Team — of course, we know you’ll be able to think of many more!

You’ve talked to your leaders about the need for a plain English project

You’re the one who went to the management or board meeting and talked about all the good reasons for starting a plain English project (large or small).

Or maybe your team got the project started, and took proof of the benefits to management to advocate for wider adoption of plain English throughout the organisation.

If you’re a plain English leader, we recommend you enter and get industry-wide recognition.

You’ve trained your colleagues in plain English

Not content to be the only plain English writer in your team or business, you’ve created a programme of training. You’re spreading the word about the advantages of plain English and giving your colleagues tools and techniques to help them write more clearly.

Perhaps you make sure you include a slot at team meetings on plain English tips — and that slot has become the highlight of the meetings.

Or are you the go-to person or team that is consulted before a major report goes out or content is loaded on the website?

If you’ve become indispensable as guide or mentor for people who want to write clearly, it’s time to get that entry in.

You’ve produced resources to support clear writing

You’ve compiled all you know into a resource for your organisation — a writing how-to, or brand guidance on clear writing. You’ve created intranet resources and newsletter articles to help build a culture of clear communication.

Or perhaps you decided those terrible templates had to go. You’ve restructured, rewritten, and rebuilt templates to make standard communications easier to produce — and easier for the target audience to receive and understand.

Sometimes this background work needs to be brought to the fore — enter the Champion category and let your light shine!

Read about last year’s winner

Find out if your organisation is a contender for the Best Organisation category

Enter the Awards

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