Plain English for the Public Sector – One Day Online Workshop

On successful completion, participants will understand how to:

• Plan well-structured, accessible communications
• Write in plain English for different audiences and types of communication
• Use clear, concise English with a professional tone
• Update materials to ensure they comply with plain English guidelines
• Edit their own and colleagues’ writing to a plain English standard

Course Content

Part 1 – Overview of Plain English

• What is plain English? What are the benefits?
• How to assess readability using the Flesch Reading Ease Scale
• Identify plain English for different types of writing: forms, leaflets, websites, letters etc.
• Importance of a suitable style and tone of voice for your target audiences
• Benefits of a plain English style guide

Part 2 – Planning to achieve objectives

• Planning for accessibility
• Define your purpose and identify your target audiences
• Create an effective objectives statement
• Step-by-step guide to creating a structured outline
• Use critical thinking to ensure you write the right document

Part 3 – How to make your writing plain and professional

• Use everyday professional English – in an appropriate style for reports, web content etc.
• Build short, clear, strong sentences and paragraphs
• Use strong active verbs for clarity
• Cut dead wood, repetition, padding and wordiness
• Be careful with jargon, technical terms and buzzwords
• How to use acronyms and abbreviations
• Use headings, bullet lists and topic sentences for navigation
• Use frontloading, signposts and linking words for flow and readability
• Take a punctuation refresher
• Use a plain English checklist

Part 4 – Reviewing

• Strategies to review your own work
• Use an editing checklist
• Become aware of common errors (grammar, punctuation, use of English, spelling)
• Identify your own ‘problem areas’
• Layout – Make it reader-friendly

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