Turning their back on officialese and corporate jargon, government agencies and commercial firms are again vying for
honours in the annual Plain English Awards. Entries are open across nine categories. Awards are available for everything
from superb sentence rewrites and document transformations, to recognition for people who campaign for clarity and their
projects.
Now in their 12th year, the Awards have an impressive track record in encouraging New Zealand organisations to favour
clarity over complexity.
All details are on the Awards website at www.plainenglishawards.org.nz, and entries close on 31 August 2017.
A Q with Awards founder Lynda Harris reveals all.
What type of organisations enter the Awards?
All types of organisations enter — large and small, public and private sector. Basically any New Zealand organisation
that cares about the way they communicate is a good candidate! Government organisations tend to get behind the Awards
really well, but the corporate sector is increasingly well represented too.
What kind of documents can you enter?
Virtually any kind of business document or webpage can be entered. And, as I mentioned, it’s not just documents — people
and organisations are honoured too. In the 2017 Awards the categories are:
Plain English Champion (Best Organisation, Best Individual or Team), Best Plain English Document, Best Plain English
Website, Best Plain English Sentence Transformation, Best Plain English Annual Report, Best Plain English Legal
Document, Best Plain English Technical Communicator, Best Plain English Turnaround, People’s Choice (Best Plain English
Communication, Worst ‘Brainstrain’ Communication).
Enter at www.plainenglishawards.org
You’d be hard pressed to find a plain legal document, wouldn’t you?
Actually you’d be surprised! Many law firms, including top tier firms and smaller niche firms, are proactively marketing
themselves with plain English as part of their brand. The Awards include a dedicated category for legal documents, so
watch this space!
What about financial documents? Can they really be clear to the average person?
Many financial organisations — banks and insurance companies especially — enter the Awards with impressively clear
documents. In fact, a major bank (ANZ) and several other financial organisations have done especially well in the
general categories over the years. We also have a special category for annual reports.
The Awards have a strong focus on excellent communication, but don’t you also expose really bad writing?
Twelve of the thirteen awards honour positive effort and results. The thirteenth ‘trophy’ (really a stainless steel bin
filled with sour lollies) goes to the winner of the dreaded ‘Brainstrain’ award. That award goes to the worst document
or website nominated by a member of the public. For the unlucky organisation receiving that award, confusion wins!
The Brainstrain Award has a very positive side though. Very often, being nominated for a Brainstrain award is a wake-up
call for its owner. Many use the nomination as an opportunity to look hard at their communication style and make really
positive changes. The Brainstrain award, along with its counterpart ‘Best Communication’ award, is sponsored very
appropriately by public watchdog Consumer NZ. Thanks to Consumer NZ’s support, you can dob in a bad document, or praise
an easy-to-read one.
See the People’s Choice category details at http://www.plainenglishawards.org.nz/enter/2017-peoples-choice-awards
Who’s behind the Awards?
The Awards are offered by the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust, ably led by chair and well-known people’s advocate
Gregory Fortuin. Premier sponsor Write Limited carries out the Awards administration on behalf of the Trust.
We also have other fabulous sponsors who provide both cash and in-kind support. Key sponsors include NZ Superfund, the
Wright Family Foundation, Consumer NZ, Graphic Solutions, printing.com, and TechCommNZ. We’re also very grateful to have in-kind support from Business New Zealand, Kendons, Community Comms
Collective, Editor Software (UK), Shelly Davies Writing and Training, and Juno Magazine.
Do you think the Awards are making a difference?
Absolutely! The process leading to success in the Awards transforms some organisations and individuals into zealous
advocates for plain English. We’re due to do another feedback survey early next year, but previous surveys have given us
overwhelmingly positive comments from entrants and others. For example:
‘The Awards are the premier benchmark for high standards and achievement in plain English. Success in the Awards shows
we’re not only doing it [plain English], but doing it well and our expertise is being recognised.’
‘Winning the award has raised the bar.’
‘We were shocked by being a finalist for the Brainstrain Award. That spurred a huge project. I personally did lots of
research on plain English and came up with our own web writing standards that exceed the e-government guidelines.’
‘The Awards also act as a public watchdog, highlighting examples of poor writing that are barriers to good communication
and people achieving what they want to do.’
For more information, email enquiries@plainenglishawards.org.nz
ENDS