29 May 2018
Recognising the best of the plain English best
What’s the best feedback you could hope for about a website that you or your organisation has created? What’s the
greatest outcome you could imagine from a document your organisation has published? And what’s the most satisfying
result you could wish for for the writers in your organisation?
How about, ‘This site was our clear and unanimous winner! We hope plain-writing professionals and trainers will use it
as a good example of plain writing principles’? Or what about, ‘What’s not to like?’ And even, ‘It’s hard to see how the
writers could have helped the readers more’?
The responses we’ve listed above are all true-blue pieces of feedback from judges at last year’s Plain English Awards.
What kind of feedback do you think you’d get?
Every year the Plain English Awards honours those individuals and organisations who have gone the extra mile to get the
best outcomes for their readers. The Awards are a public pat on the back for plain English champions. They help to raise
the bar for clear communication.
To decide on our champions, independent panels of plain English experts and advocates judge entries and decide on who’s
best in each category. This year we have 13 different categories available for you to enter (or to be entered in).
Entries for the 2018 Plain English Awards are open. You have just over 3 months to get your entries in before they close
on Friday, 31 August.
Enter the 2018 Plain English Awards through our website: www.plainenglishawards.org.nz/enter-the-2018-plain-english-awards/
ENDS