Comments on: Disdain for Plain English Can Doom Promising Change Management Plans

By: Tyler

Tyler — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:37:02 +0000

These sound like entries from Management Bingo we used to play at meetings at my last employer.

By: Tom Delamater

Tom Delamater — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:38:33 +0000

In anticipation of the reception on my part of wisdom surpassed only by the insight that more than 20 years in communication disciplines has imbued you with, I with eagerness and curiosity commenced with the reading of your latest web blog missive, even as I set aside other more pressing details of this, the midpoint day of the month of March, in the year of our Lord 2010, and awaited the craftiness of your literary prose.
Instead, you cut to the chase. Darn.

By: Al Swegan

Al Swegan — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:10:54 +0000

Spent several years working on a newsletter team at a former employer. The team as well as the target audience consisted of High School through College education. I was taught early on that spell check is not enough. Go one step further and do the grammar check. This caught many errors that slipped past spell check.
At the end of grammar check, a summary popped up with reading comprehension ratings. The average reading level in the US being about a 10th grade level it was easy to check how comprehensible an article would be. If the level spiked, determine why and if it needed to be changed. Often technical aspects will force this level up, but is the intended audience familiar with these aspects? If so don’t edit to death. If this was not the case then find a way to make it understandable.
Finally, don’t trust the computer. Read each others articles and ask yourself the ‘?”, “Did I understand what I just read?”

By: jim cartwright

jim cartwright — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:42:23 +0000

Amen.
For wordier examples than supplied by you friend, see any insurance policy.