Language Timothy! - Plain English
At Consumer Friend we are very passionate about writing in plain English. We also think all businesses and organisations should do the same when communicating with their customers and potential customers. From websites to standard communications to complaint responses. But what do we mean by plain English and why?
We have googled it, as we do everything these days, and these are the definitions.
Plain English is…
Not decorated or elaborate; simple or basic in character.
Plain English (or layman's terms) are groups of words that are easy to understand and easy to know. It usually avoids the use of rare words and uncommon euphemisms to explain the subject. Plain English wording is intended to be suitable for almost anyone, and it allows for good understanding to help readers know a topic.
We have as usual come up with our own definition as who knows what euphemisms means!
Our definition of plain English is…
Communicating in a clear, straightforward way. It should be short sentences and the audience (everyone) should understand what is written, the first time they read it or hear it.
In our work and daily lives, we have so much assumed knowledge, as professionals our worlds are filled with acronyms and jargon. This can mean we block people from conversations or immediately make our communication unfriendly and then people won’t hear what we are trying to say. No one likes to feel stupid and lots of people don’t feel confident enough to challenge or ask what you mean. With consumer vulnerability being so fluid and dynamic right now, there is even more opportunities for consumers to not understand the information they may need.
The average reading age of a UK consumer is between 9-12 depending on the source of the data. Therefore, we need to make sure we consider this. Our written communications might be too difficult to read or understanding meaning we risk missing out lots of people. Nobody wants to read something they can’t understand! We certainly don’t.
We suggest everybody promotes a plain English approach as it promotes inclusive services What if we changed the way we think…
What if we start to think, NOT about the perceived failings of a person, not what is wrong with a particular person, but we should be asking, what can we do differently, what is wrong with the language and words I am using if a person can’t access it!
Listen to our podcast on plain English here: