Plain Language Awards

Celebrate the stories of our clearest business communicators

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Use your superpowers and spread the word about plain language | Photo by Austris Augusts on Unsplash


Lynda Harris, Write and WriteMark CEO and Awards founder,  spoke at the Plain English Awards ceremony on 14 October 2021. Here is her introduction to the premier award of Plain English Champion — Best Organisation. The Champion category is sponsored by Write Limited.


So here we are in the middle of the Champion category with all this suspense before we announce the premier Award! For that reason I have been told to be very brief!

It’s no secret that the Champion category is my favourite. Not only because it honours such wonderful people and projects, but because the concept of being a Champion is absolutely inherent in the whole concept of the Awards.

Even though as a country we are so much better at plain language now, we still need to push for it. And the people who do the pushing, inspiring, and advocating are the champions. When you’re persuading a manager or a senior leader that clarity and connection is worth the time and effort, you’re being a champion. When you’re writing a business case for a plain language makeover, you’re being a champion.  If you’re at this ceremony, you’re a champion.

So to all you champions, thank you!

Use your superpowers to make the world a better place

Years ago in 2007 we made a little animated video about a superhero who had P on his cape. That was P for PLAIN. Our PLAIN superhero swooped around workplaces converting people into superheros. Lots of plain language champions, in other words. It was a  bit corny to be fair, but I often think that as plain language advocates and champions we are wearing a metaphorical superhero outfit.

I actually asked Google the defining qualities of a superhero and it helpfully told me that they were super strength, flight, telepathy, telekinesis, super speed, super intelligence, and super gadgets.

Well, you can take from that what you will. But the best bit that rings true is that they typically use their powers to help the world become a better place.

You are already using your superpowers to do just that. But maybe you never thought of it that way. 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 please take stock of your superpowers, don that cape, gather others around you, and continue to champion the cause for human-centred writing. Write’s slogan is ‘using the power of words for good’. Together we are all doing just that.

Congratulations to the winners of the Best Organisation Award!

Read about the winners of the Champion Best Organisation Award


 

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Which do you choose? Nominate the good and the bad for the People’s Choice | Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash


Have you ever found a document so challenging to read that you had to call on a mate for help? Or have you found a document so surprisingly easy to read that the stress lines of those furrowed brows just disappeared in a flash?

You have the power to tell the world what you want from anything you read — and plain is the way to go! And the two People’s Choice categories can help you and others choose plain over waffle.


Fight the good fight and show what’s right

Imagine a world where your insurance documents, legal contracts, application forms, and other important pieces of information are clear and easy to read. The more that we all speak up and demand clear communication, the better it gets for everyone!

The Best Plain English Communication shows the world that plain English is the right way to write. You can give someone a pat on the back for an amazing piece of writing.

As Awards MC and long-time supporter James Elliott puts it:

Plain English is hard to define but we recognise its absence when we see gobbledygook.

Show the world what good looks like, and help create demand for lots more good writing!

Nominate a People’s Choice Best Communication


Don’t strain the brain — make it plain

How many brains does it take to change a lightbulb? If it takes more than one person or read-through to ‘click’ with what you’re reading, the writer hasn’t done a good job.

Call out poor communication! The Brainstrain category highlights communications that could be much clearer. Past winners of this infamous award have taken the award in good humour and seen the opportunities to improve.

Nominate a Brainstrain


Let the People’s Choice be your voice!

Vote for clarity and clear communication. Exercise your democratic right and let your voice be heard.

We don’t want to deal with jargon. We don’t want obscurity. We don’t want confusion when we read anything. We want to understand everything, plain and simple!

Submit your nomination


 

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James Elliott asks and answers a common question | Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash


As our Awards MC James Elliott recently pointed out in an article on Newsroom, sometimes it’s easier to work out what something is by first working out what it is not.

In the case of plain language, it’s not the passages of writing that leave you scratching your head. Rather, it’s those passages that pass you by unnoticed that are at the heart of plain language.

‘The best example of plain English is a grouping of words that almost passes us by unnoticed because it doesn’t require a second thought or consideration. We understood what it meant the first time around.’

Image, Newsroom article

Read James Elliott’s article in praise of plain English

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A beautiful handmade trophy is one of several prizes in store for Accuro Health Insurance. Image by A Beautiful Photo

Winners in the 14th annual People’s Choice Awards were announced by Awards media partner Newsroom last week. The People’s Choice Awards recognise the best and worst in government and corporate communications, nominated anonymously by members of the public.


Accuro Health Insurance comes out tops

The award for the People’s Choice — Best Plain English Communication goes to Accuro Health Insurance for their website.
See the official announcement on the Newsroom website

The person who nominated this website said:

It’s a beautifully clear, simple website. I found it clear and logical.

The international panel of judges said about this entry:

This website is a very good example of plain English used to support a business to communicate clearly and in an engaging way with as many New Zealand residents and citizens as possible. I’d expect it to have a positive impact on sales to new customers and existing customer retention and engagement.

This is a very strong site. It gives a great first impression, drawing the reader in from the start. This is then followed up by concise and engaging content, and a simple-to-navigate layout that makes it easy for readers to find and do what they need to.

[Accuro has] done a good job creating a user experience that is clear and helpful, which is refreshing for an insurance organisation.

Image, James Elliot from Newsroom

Lawyer, comedian and Awards MC James Elliott announced winners on the Newsroom website.

Bad news for Auckland Council

The award for the People’s Choice — Worst Brainstrain Communication goes to Auckland Council for its Proposed Plan Change letter.
See the official announcement on the Newsroom website

The person who nominated this document said:

A good friend of mine came in waving her [copy of this letter] at me, saying she had a Master’s degree in English and couldn’t understand a word of it.

The international panel of judges said about this entry:

This document is very difficult to understand, which disturbs me because it seems very important for landowners. Also, the writer portrays the content as unimportant, but I don’t think it is so, and this makes me suspicious.

The council is trying to bring a planning change to the attention of its ratepayers and residents. But it has failed miserably to think about how to get that message across in plain language. [The letter] appears to be written for people who understand council processes, not for those who will be most affected by the change.

The third component of this communication is already written in plain language, so the skills to write the rest in plain language exist. This is poor performance for a very important matter, and a huge opportunity missed. Many residents were frustrated by this communication.

New Zealanders continue to benefit after 14 years

The People’s Choice Awards are held each year and form part of the Plain English Awards. The full Plain English Awards are held every second year. Entries for the 2020 Plain English Awards will open at the end of March 2020.

After 14 years of Awards, New Zealanders continue to reap the benefits of business and government using clear communication to engage with their clients, consumers, and customers. The Awards reinforce the element of care that lies behind reader-focused communications.

Awards founder (and CE of plain language consultancy Write Limited) Lynda Harris said care is one of the qualities associated with plain English that’s closest to her heart.

People who choose to communicate in plain English do, by definition, care about their readers. They put the needs of their readers first as they think and write. They care about people, impact, and outcomes.

Awards sponsors

Sponsors for this year’s Awards included WriteMark, Write Limited, Wright Family Foundation, Graphic Solutions, Newsroom, printing.com, MoneyHub, and Consumer NZ.

Other sponsors, whose contributions to the Awards were invaluable, are Editor Software (United Kingdom), JUNO Investing Magazine, and Kendons.

Find out more

See Newsroom’s official announcement of this year’s winners

Read what our winners and finalists had to say on our winners page

For more information, contact:
Gregory Fortuin, Chair, WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust
021 465 254

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Judge Matt Huntington, left, hands over a trophy to last year’s winner of the People’s Choice Best category, Troy Churton from the Commission for Financial Capability. Photo by Rebecca McMillan.

Awards media partner Newsroom will announce the winners of this year’s People’s Choice Awards on Thursday, 28 November.


We can’t wait to find out which of our finalists have come out tops. And we’re very excited to have the support of Newsroom to help us spread the word.
James Elliott — our fabulous and funny MC at Awards presentations for the last 5 years — is continuing his support for plain language by being our star announcer.

All sorts of goodies await the winner of the Best Plain English Communication

We know our judges have been thinking long and hard about which of the top four nominations in their category deserves to win. What can the finalists, all supported by members of the public, look forward to if they win?

First of all, we’re pretty sure they’ll be celebrating their award, knowing that their communication has had a positive impact in the world.

As well, thanks to our wonderful sponsors, the winner will walk away with some fabulous prizes.

They’ll be thrilled to receive the iconic trophy in steel and bronze by Wellington sculptor Campbell Maud. They’ll enjoy using the latest StyleWriter plain English editing software from Editor Software to craft future documents.

And we think they’ll be excited to extend their skills with a place on any of Write Limited’s 1-day open workshops.

A little bit of fun for our Brainstrain winner

Our Brainstrain judges are all industry experts and take their roles very seriously. Even so, we always present the Brainstrain Award with good humour. That’s why the winner of the Worst Brainstrain Communication gets the famous Brainstrain rubbish bin filled with sour worms.

Image, winner's bucket of gummy worms from the People's Choice Awards 2018

Who’ll win the notorious rubbish bin full of sour worms this year? Photo by Rebecca McMillan.

Winners of our Brainstrain category need serious prizes too! They’ll also get:

  • the latest StyleWriter plain English editing software from Editor Software
  • 2 hours free consultancy from Write Limited to start transforming the document or webpage into plain English
  • a place on any of Write Limited’s 1-day open workshops.

Good luck to all our People’s Choice finalists!

We look forward to finding out our winners on Thursday, 28 November. Why not join us?

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Hands up who's excited about the upcoming Plain English Awards? Image by Jaime Lopes/Unsplash licence.

We’re encouraged by the amount of interest people are showing in next year’s Awards. We hope this is a sign that our goal of creating a public preference for plain English is working!

So that you’re ready when the time comes, here are the dates you need to know for the 2020 Awards.

  • Entries open: Tuesday, 31 March
  • Entries close: Friday, 29 May
  • Shortlist announced: Thursday, 18 June
  • Finalists announced: Thursday, 23 July
  • Winners announced: Thursday, 20 August

Find out more about entering the 2020 Plain English Awards
Email us to find out about sponsorship options for next year’s Awards

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We're proud to let you know that the independent news and current affairs website Newsroom is our official media partner for 2019. Image by Sofiya Levchenko. Unsplash licence.

Working alone has its benefits. But joining forces with someone else can be even better.


We’re excited to announce that we have an official media partner for this year’s People’s Choice Awards — the independent news and current affairs website Newsroom. Many of you will know Newsroom, a New Zealand site with a team of award-winning journalists. This team produces quality written and video stories that set the national news agenda and inform intelligent conversations at every level of New Zealand life.

Focusing on people, progress, and democracy

One of the many traits we love about Newsroom is their focus on delivering ‘in-depth storytelling for thinking audiences with an interest in the people, progress, and democracy of Aotearoa’.

‘Newsroom and the Awards share some important values,’ says Gregory Fortuin, Chair of the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust.

‘We’re both interested in the progress of Aotearoa and in how New Zealanders exercise their democratic rights. At the Awards we believe that clear communication is the democratic right of every New Zealander.’

What this partnership means for the Awards

As our media partner, Newsroom will be helping to spread the word about our Awards. They’ll also officially announce our winners on Thursday, 28 November. We’ll direct you to their site for these announcements, if you don’t get there earlier. And all other announcements, including shortlists and finalists, will continue to be published on our Awards site.

When to look out for results

Our judges’ decisions will be announced on the following dates.

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Who’s the best and who’s the worst? Our panel of expert judges will make this year’s tough decisions. Image by Emily Morter. Unsplash licence.

Every year we’re honoured to enlist the support of plain language specialists from around New Zealand and the world to judge entries and nominations in our Awards. This year’s People’s Choice Awards are no different.


The exciting task of deciding who’s best

For our Best Communication category, we’re delighted to announce Deanna Lorianni, communications strategist from Virginia, USA, as panel chair. She’ll be joined by plain language specialists Emma Fossey in Scotland and Paula Shelton in Auckland. Together Deanna, Emma, and Paula will make the tough decision on which of your nominations is this year’s plain language superstar.

The difficult job of sorting bad from worse

For our Brainstrain category, we’re lucky enough to have the expert eye of two judges who’ve been part of this panel for several years: Simon Hertnon from Nakedize, who’ll be chairing the panel, and Sue Chetwin from Consumer — we’re excited to have them back! Simon and Sue will be joined by the equally valuable Paula van Gemen, plain language specialist from the Netherlands.

Read more about who’s on this year’s judging panels

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Do you know of a document that makes about as much sense as a bear doing aquayoga? Let us know! Image by Ryan Grewell. Unsplash licence.

It shouldn’t take more than one reading to decipher a passage of text.


How often do you ponder a passage of text that you just can’t untangle on one reading? Every day, I expect. Today’s special for me was an email from a software firm that included terms like ‘personalisation’, ‘confidentiality provision’, ‘ecosystem partners’, ‘beta participants’, ‘busywork’ — and more!

One or two of these terms I could manage and, to be fair, the writer was trying to summarise a larger document that was even more complex. But the two very long paragraphs in the email were jam-packed with similar terms. So the overall result was that the email missed its mark. The text was dense and difficult to decipher, so I didn’t really bother to try.

Tell us about giving up on gobbledygook

Gobbledygook hides the main messages. The reader has to struggle to understand. And that makes our busy lives even busier. If they give up, they’ve wasted their time. It’s not okay.

The People’s Choice Awards give you the chance to find examples of gobbledygook in everyday communications and dob them in. Nominate the worst communications you’ve found for the Brainstrain Award. You can nominate documents or webpages from government or business organisations.

We’d love to hear from you so we can help to stamp out gobbledygook. This is your chance to change the way New Zealand communicates!

Find out how to nominate here

Find out about the 2018 Brainstrain winner here

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Write Ltd. are proud sponsors of this year's People's Choice Awards. Image by Romain Vignes. Unsplash licence.

Like all great things, the Plain English Awards only exist because of the combined vision and ongoing commitment of a group of valuable supporters.


Many hands make light work

At the beginning of our 14-year history, it took a group of passionate professionals, led by Write Limited founder and CEO Lynda Harris, to develop the idea of the Awards and get them started.

Over the course of our history, we’ve relied on various supporters to help us maintain our momentum and keep us working towards our goals. Some have joined us for short periods of time; others have been with us from the start. Check out this year’s sponsors.

Write Limited is one of those long-standing supporters. New Zealand’s premier plain language consultancy, Write is also our founding sponsor. Write believes in using the power of words for good, so sponsoring the Awards fits perfectly with that purpose.
Find out more about why Write chooses to support the Plain English Awards every year

Discover the benefits of sponsorship

Curious about the benefits that sponsoring the Plain English Awards brings to your organisation? Please get in touch — we’d love to discuss sponsorship options with you.

Contact Awards project manager Melissa Mebus on enquiries@plainlanguageawards.org.nz, or call 04 384 6447 if you’d like to sponsor the Awards.

 

 

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