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UID:20260706T210213CEST-9154a0pdKc@https://www.sense-online.nl/
DTSTAMP:20260706T190213Z
DESCRIPTION:The plain truth: applying Plain Language to creating accessible
 \, user-friendly texts\nJohn Linnegar\nPLAIN (the international associatio
 n of plain-language professionals) has drafted this definition:\n‘A writte
 n communication is in plain language if its wording\, structure\, and desi
 gn are so clear that the intended readers can easily find what they need\,
  understand it\, and use it.” This requires authors to make informed judgm
 ents about whether the text (”wording”) is clear enough. It also means usi
 ng good organisation (“structure”) and layout (“design”) to help them navi
 gate.’\n During this webinar\, the aim will be to help practitioners learn
  how to harness Plain Language (or plain English) principles to improve th
 e flow\, accessibility and easy comprehension of authors’ texts. The aim i
 s to introduce participants to a suite of handy Plain Language techniques 
 with which to turn verbose\, high-register texts into those that the ident
 ified readers will find accessible and understandable at first reading.\n 
 ‘The message is important\, not the fancy language wrapped around it.’ (Ge
 orge Orwell)\n It’s astonishing how many writers feel they need to ‘dress 
 up’ their writing to the extent that they lose their natural (aka plain) v
 oice completely! Their reasons are no doubt many: from wanting to impress 
 to needing to sound important or authoritative – and sometimes even becaus
 e their boss or professor ‘writes like that\, so it must be good’! But in 
 this day and age we should rather be ‘dressing down’ writing to make it mo
 re accessible and flow better. Where writers themselves are incapable of d
 oing so\, the task usually falls to us wordsmiths to dress (not dumb!) wri
 ting down. \nWe need to make authors’ words clear and straightforward\, us
 ing only as many words as are necessary. Plain Language helps us to do so 
 by dispensing with the ‘fancy language wrapped around [their words]’: obsc
 urity\, inflated vocabulary and convoluted sentence constructions. Applyin
 g Plain Language principles systematically\, our aim is to render the auth
 ors’ messages readily understood at first reading.\n By the end of this on
 line workshop you will be able\, with confidence\, to: ● convert long\, co
 mplex sentences into shorter compound or simple ones\; ● replace\, where p
 ossible\, passive voice (O-V-S) constructions with active ones (S-V-O)\; ●
  remove embedded clauses from complex sentences\; ● replace ‘difficult’ po
 lysyllabic words and jargon with more everyday\, accessible synonyms (eg ‘
 remuneration’ with ‘pay’ or ‘wage’)\; ● make impenetrable noun strings acc
 essible by inserting prepositions and articles into them\; ● supplant noun
 isms (nominalisations) with healthier vigorous verb equivalents (eg ‘invit
 ation’ with ‘invite’)\; ● dispense with archaisms such as ‘aforesaid’\, ‘h
 erein’\, ‘thereby’\, ‘whereafter’\; ● find ways to introduce useful visual
  elements (eg lists). Fundamentally\, we wordsmiths will be asking – and a
 nswering – the questions ‘Who is the audience?’ and ‘What are their needs?
 ’ In so doing\, we’ll be using the reader-centric approach authors should 
 have adopted. \nAbout the presenter\n \nJohn Linnegar began his career as 
 a teacher of English\, History and Mathematics. His passion for working wi
 th words was ignited by his high school teachers of English\, Latin and Ge
 rman. Those strong grammatical foundations combined with a love of his mot
 her tongue led him towards authorship and\, as a direct result\, towards i
 mproving authors’ texts for publication. He has been an avid ‘improver of 
 authors’ words’ for four decades now\, and remains dedicated to making the
 ir texts read as clearly as possible (and in the process saving a reputati
 on or two!). \nJohn is author of several texts dealing with matters gramma
 tical and stylistic\, including contributions to the Oxford English gramma
 r: The advanced guide (OUP\, 2015) and\, most recently\, with Ken McGilliv
 ray\, grammar\, punctuation and all that jazz . . . (MLA Publishers\, 2019
 ). He currently offers a personalised ‘online’ Grammar for Editors course 
 aimed at those who need to brush up their English grammar and an online tr
 aining course on Plain Language. https://www.sense-online.nl/events/worksh
 ops-events/event/704-the-plain-truth-applying-plain-language-to-creating-a
 ccessible-user-friendly-texts
DTSTART:20210807T080000Z
DTEND:20210807T110000Z
LOCATION:Zoom online meeting ()
SUMMARY:The plain truth: applying Plain Language to creating accessible\, u
 ser-friendly texts
URL:https://www.sense-online.nl/events/workshops-events/event/704-the-plain
 -truth-applying-plain-language-to-creating-accessible-user-friendly-texts
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