Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal Writing Blogs -> Building Rapport

Legal Writing

: Building Rapport

A Summary Report on the Florida Plain Language Initiative

In the latest  issue of Plain Language at Work, William DuBay discusses the hard work and resources involved  in plain language communication. This is his report:

Planning Plain-Language Projects: Connecting with Resources

ONCE you have been given the go-ahead for a plain-language project, the first thing you should do is evaluate and plan resources. .

Whether the project is large or small, whether it involves a few documents or many, having adquate resources will make the difference between success or failure.

Many executives and public officials somehow think that by merely waving a magic wand, documents that are currently obtuse and unreadable can be changed into crystal-clear language. They assume that plain language is easy and that everyone should know how to do it.

Well, as Cicero told us, while, "at first thought, the plain style looks simple, nothing is more difficult." It takes method, training, and practice. For an organization, it also takes leadership and resources. Not supplying managers with adequate resources guarantees failure.

In January, 2007, Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced his "state's committment to provide open and transparent government by changing the way government interacts with its customers."

One year later, 21,000 employees had received training in plain language. A handbook and Web site were developed. Each of the state's 25 agencies had developed an plan for implementation and appointed a person to coordinate plain-language efforts with the governor's office. Some 12,500 documents were reviewed and evaluated for plain language. All that takes time, money, and effort.

As officials in Florida and elsewhere have found, the style of writing is deeply ingrained in the culture of an organization. It takes thoughful planning, determination, and persistence to change the way people communicate.

Full post as published by Building Rapport on October 04, 2009 (boomark / email).