WriteMark Plain English Awards praise clear communication

3 July 2013

Awards praise clear communication

Organisations or businesses that use clear, effective communications will be vying for the top honour in this year’s WriteMark Plain English Awards.

The Awards are now open – giving both public and private sector an opportunity to focus on their important messages.

“Organisations are encouraged to show they care when sharing their messages, in a way that all New Zealanders can understand,” says Gregory Fortuin, WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust Chair. “Their efforts to communicate in plain English can make a difference to the lives of many people.”

Last year The Cancer Society’s commitment to clear communication and user-focused materials was applauded, winning the Society the coveted Plain English Champion — Best Organisation Award. The entry was among almost 100 from organisations and businesses throughout the country.

The Plain English Awards celebrate and recognise concise, well-structured, and easily understood documents, both online and in print. They aim to:
• improve government and business documents so that all New Zealanders can understand them
• raise public awareness of the need for, and benefits of, plain English
• create a public preference for organisations that choose to communicate in plain English.

The news was all good in 2012 for a document jointly owned by The Ministry of Social Development and the Inland Revenue. It was a different story to that of the 2006 Awards when their Student Loan contract received the first ever ‘Brainstrain’ Award. At that time, the Ministry issued a press statement vowing to do better.

The judges last year declared that the new plain English contract was ‘excellent’, saying ‘It has all the information a contract needs and none that it doesn’t. It successfully speaks to its audience — students — rather than addressing contract lawyers and policy writers. A brilliant turnaround and a well-deserved win!’.

Entries to this year’s Plain English Awards close on 20 September. For more information visit www.plainenglishawards.org.nz.

ENDS

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