'We worked for 3 years to get this!' Winner of the Best Plain English Document — Private sector Jacqueline Taylor celebrates her success. Photo by Rebecca McMillan Photography.
What an amazing ceremony last night! Congratulations to all our 2018 winners — you deserved all the recognition you got. The feedback you each received from your judges truly shows that plain English is alive and kicking in New Zealand. It also shows that, as a Trust, we’re making great strides towards fulfilling our goals.
‘Keep going and spread the word!’
A special mention to the winners of our Plain English Champion — Best Individual or Team category. The work that’s gone into the Better Letters Project at the Ministry of Social Development is seriously changing the lives of everyday New Zealanders.
Our judges got it right when they said, ‘Keep going and spread the word! Imagine what New Zealand’s public service might look like if every government department took this approach!’
Find out about this year’s winners
Take a look at photographer Rebecca McMillan’s wonderful photos of the ceremony
Melissa Mebus November 16th, 2018
Posted In: 2018 awards ceremony, 2018 winners, Finalists, Social good, Winners
Tags: 2018 Plain English Awards, 2018 Winners, Champion, clear communication, People's Choice
It's time to celebrate this year's winners! Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash
Tickets are available now for this year’s Plain English Awards ceremony
Where? City Gallery Wellington
When? Thursday, 15 November
Come along and celebrate at this year’s ceremony. Join finalists, judges, sponsors, and other supporters for an evening of fun, festivity, and above all celebration.
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester will give an opening address at 5.30pm. And lawyer and comedian James Elliott will be our MC for the evening. Financial advisor, wealth coach, and author Martin Hawes will also return as a guest speaker.
You’ll have a chance to mix and mingle, with drinks and canapés, following the official segment of the ceremony.
Get your tickets now!
Melissa Mebus October 25th, 2018
Posted In: 2018 awards ceremony, 2018 Plain English Awards, Finalists, Winners
Tags: 2018 finalists, 2018 Plain English Awards, Celebration, Industry awards, winners
They're the sparkle on the plain English cupcake. Well done to this year's finalists. Photo by Audrey Fretz on Unsplash
Our judges have announced this year’s finalists. Find out who they are here
What makes an entry good enough to become a finalist? According to our judges, it’s all about being like this:
- ‘Overall, we have a strong example of how a company can take complex information and share the details both with clarity and with compelling storytelling. Kudos!’
- ‘I would certainly use this product as an example of effective plain writing and information design.’
- ‘This is an exemplary document.’
Now the countdown begins to our Awards ceremony on Thursday, 15 November, where we’ll announce and celebrate this year’s winners. Watch this space for details about how to get tickets.
Melissa Mebus October 18th, 2018
Posted In: 2018 Plain English Awards, Finalists, Plain English Awards
Tags: 2018 finalists, 2018 Plain English Awards, Industry awards, People's Choice
Deciding on our shortlists was no mean feat. Photo by Cathryn Lavery on Unsplash.
From what we’ve heard from our judges, finalising this year’s shortlists has been no mean feat. We received many outstanding entries from across both the public and private sectors. We’re thrilled to announce which of those entries made our shortlists.
Take a look at our 2018 shortlists
We’ll make our next big announcement — this year’s finalists — some time around 19 October. Watch this space!
Melissa Mebus September 20th, 2018
Posted In: 2018 Plain English Awards, Judges, Shortlists
Tags: 2018 Plain English Awards, 2018 shortlists, clear communication, Industry awards
We'll let our 'shortlist' cats out of the basket tomorrow, Thursday, 20 September. Photo by Eric Han on Unsplash
Over the past 2 weeks our judges have been busy reviewing all of this year’s entries. We’ll let the first ‘shortlist’ cats out of the bag (or basket) tomorrow, so watch this space.
In the meantime we can let you in on some of the feedback we’ve had about this year’s entries. Here’s what one judge told us:
I’m pleased to report we have many excellent entries (quality lifts every year, which is fabulous) and it’s tricky coming up with a shortlist.
Melissa Mebus September 19th, 2018
Posted In: 2018 Plain English Awards, Plain English Awards, Shortlists
Tags: 2018 Plain English Awards, 2018 shortlists, Champion
We were lucky enough to have five judges make last year's Awards ceremony. From left are Simon Hertnon, Kylie McGrath, Rachael Fogarty, Rachel McApline, and Maryland Spencer. Image by A Beautiful Photo
Meet our incredible line-up of plain English experts — from around New Zealand and the world — who’ll be judging entries in this year’s Awards. We’re proud to have such a wonderful pool of experts, and honoured that they’ve all offered their time to help us decide on our finalists and winners. We’re also grateful for the feedback they’ll give to all shortlisted entrants.
Judges for the 2018 Plain English Awards
Melissa Mebus September 3rd, 2018
Posted In: 2018 Plain English Awards, Communications, Judges, People's Choice awards, Plain English Awards
Tags: 2018 Plain English Awards, champions, clear communication, People's Choice, Plain English Awards
You now have 3 whole days more to submit your entries!
Entries for the 2018 Plain English Awards now close at midnight next Monday, 3 September. That means you’ve got 3 extra days to create your winning entry!
Read about our categories
See who won at last year’s Awards
Melissa Mebus August 30th, 2018
Posted In: 2018 Plain English Awards, Industry awards, People's Choice awards, Winners
Tags: 2018 Plain English Awards, clear communication, entry, Industry awards
Taking a fresh approach to legal writing with the Best Plain English Legal Document
Legal documents are changing. Once densely written, peppered with Latin, and strictly formatted, today’s legal documents are much more reader-friendly.
We’re all readers of legal documents. And we all appreciate clearly written documents that state the necessary information without resorting to legalese. Preferably, we want to be able to read the document and understand it easily. This means we can discuss the content with our legal advisor or a colleague, without having to rely on someone else to explain it first.
A fresh approach to legal
When we’re signing a contract, entering an agreement, or deciding who we’ll leave our worldly goods to, legal documents in plain English make each party’s obligations clear.
The Best Plain English Legal Document award recognises this fresh approach to legal documents. The judges will be looking for examples of legal writing that consider the reader’s needs rather than the writer’s. These are the documents that clearly and succinctly explain, streamline, and structure legal content that could otherwise be confusing to a non-legally-trained person.
Here’s what the judges praised in last year’s winner and finalist entries.
About the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 (Parliamentary Counsel Office)
Parliamentary Counsel Office did a great job of combining multiple Acts that were a confusing hodgepodge of legislation into a single intelligible Act.
A clear understanding of the audience and consultation with these groups made the project stronger. The explanations in the legislation were particularly useful.
The revised Act is a great step forward in New Zealand for plain English legislation. And the intended audience has a much clearer picture of contractual law in New Zealand.
About the Property Sharing Agreement (Cavell Leitch)
Cavell Leitch has shown a commitment to improving the clarity of a consumer-focused contract. Significant steps have been taken to improve the language.
The judges are looking forward to seeing what this year’s entries will bring.
Enter your fresh legal document here
Anne-Marie Chisnall August 29th, 2018
Posted In: 2018 Plain English Awards, Legal writing
Tags: Best Legal Document, clarity, Legal writing, legalese, recognition
Put your compelling annual report into the limelight
Have you joined the wave of change? Does your annual report tick off all the statutory stipulations and hum with life? Does it tell a compelling story of what matters to you and your stakeholders? Is it clear and concise?
If you’re twitching with pride right now, jump up and give your report the razzle dazzle it deserves.
Enter this year’s Plain English Awards and your report can leap into the limelight and take a bow. Entries close at midnight on Monday, 3 September 2018.
Fabulous feedback is waiting in the wings
Imagine you and your report basking in this kind of feedback. Here’s what the judges had to say about last year’s winners:
Overall, this is a great example of how you can appease regulatory requirements and appeal to a general reader — a true plain English experience with the audience in mind. Well done!
Great use of visual storytelling and pared-down messaging. The colours are vibrant and engaging.
This report has very little jargon, which is always great to see. The vocabulary is straightforward and clear.
More than just compliance
Gone are the days of an impenetrable collection of numbers and words, prepared for compliance purposes. Shareholders and stakeholders have switched their attention to companies with timely and relevant information shared in a compelling way.
Is this you? If it is, enter this year’s awards today — you need the fabulous feedback, and the world needs excellent examples.
Here’s what winners Z Energy said last year:
We knew making the report highly readable would help readers connect with what Z has achieved and its vision for the future.
A winning report is clear, easy to read, timely, and relevant
Judges will focus on the body of the report and will be checking that:
- all readers (not just the financial wizards) will find it easy to read and use
- readers can use the report to make useful decisions and comparisons.
What makes a clear annual report?
If your report has these elements, the judges will give it the thumbs up.
- Main messages that are clear and obvious
- Clear, concise and jargon free
- Technical terms explained
- Figures presented in an easy-to-understand format
- Graphs, tables and photos that support main messages.
Enter your report for the 2018 Plain English Awards.
Meet last year’s winners
Jayne Dalmer August 29th, 2018
Posted In: 2018 Plain English Awards
Tags: 2018 Plain English Awards, annual report, benchmark, plain English, recognition, stakeholders
It only takes a sentence to enter the Awards! Get transforming, using these simple steps.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to enter an awards competition? The award for Best Plain English Sentence Transformation makes entering the Plain English Awards as simple as 1 – 2 – 3!
1. First, catch your sentence
Complex, long-winded sentences abound in official publications, on business websites, and around the office.
To find a suitable sentence, first of all, track down something that’s really long with multiple clauses, that maybe even includes more than one main idea, and also uses unnecessary, surplus words and phrases and convoluted language, which nevertheless might be regarded by some as adding a certain element of essential formality. See what we did there?
2. Rewrite your sentence in plain English
Rewrite your sentence in plain English so that it becomes simple and beautifully crafted. Keep your sentence short. If needed, you can use more than one sentence to express the ideas of your original text.
3. Enter your sentence in the award for Best Plain English Sentence Transformation
Enter your original and rewrite in the category that gives well-written sentences the attention they deserve. You can enter up to three sentence transformations in one entry. And feel free to enter more than once!
Enter the Best Plain English Sentence Transformation award
Check out last year’s winner here
Check out one of last year’s finalists here
And check out the other finalist from last year here
Anne-Marie Chisnall August 29th, 2018
Posted In: 2018 Plain English Awards
Tags: 2018 Plain English Awards, Best Plain English Sentence Transformation, clear communication, entry, recognition, sentence, transformation
