Reflecting on the Plain Language Workshop with Mary Jane Nirdlinger

By Helen Klass-Warch

Have you ever found yourself trying to impress others by using fancy words and complex sentences, but ended up sounding like a robot? Don’t worry, we’ve all been there! We often fall into the trap of using passive writing, thinking that it will make us appear smarter or more knowledgeable. But the truth is, it can make our message harder to understand and less engaging.

Whether we’re conscious of it or not, we tend to hide behind jargon and convoluted sentences when we’re unsure about a topic. We think that by providing too much information and using unclear language, we can fool others into thinking we know what we’re talking about. But the reality is, it just confuses people and makes them lose interest.

So, when you’re trying to communicate with others, it’s important to keep it clear and simple. Use language that is easy to understand and format your content in a way that makes it visually appealing and easy to follow. When it comes to city planning, it’s no secret that reports and memos can often be a bit of a slog to get through. With dense blocks of text and overly complicated language, it can be tough to find the information that is most important to you and other constituents. As future city planners, we can take it upon ourselves to set a different standard.

What is Plain Language?

Plain Language (also called plain writing or plain English) is communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it. It is writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience.

Mary Jane Nirdlinger recently led a workshop for students in UNC’s Department of City and Regional Planning. She is a writer and has extensive experience working in local government in North Carolina.  Mary Jane was formerly a guest speaker in the Master’s Project course last spring and her session was so popular that she was asked to come back this semester to impart her wisdom on myself and other first-year master’s students. Mary Jane expanded upon the definition of Plain Language, explaining that it is a mindset that you can apply to all forms of communication including emails, posters, memos, reports, and web content. It is the combination of clear writing and clear visuals to communicate in the simplest manner possible between the “speaker” and “receiver”.

It is more important than ever to communicate clearly and concisely with each other and with audiences. An area where this is most pressing is standardized, government issues exams like a driver’s exam. In Maryland earlier this year, there was a story of a young man named Lawrence who after repeated attempts, was unable to pass the Maryland driver’s permit exam. He had carefully studied the state’s prep materials and had been scoring perfectly on at-home practice tests. But due to Lawrence’s autism and cognitive abilities, the vocabulary on the state test was beyond his ability and the wording of the multiple-choice questions were confusing to him. Only after his mother asked for reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (which gave him a version of the test he had practiced with), did he pass. Lawrence’s experience led to Maryland’s Motor Vehicle Administration to change the test language and make it accessible for more people. The agency recently announced that the driver’s manual and the driver written exams will now be offered in “Plain Language”, aimed at fifth-to-eight grade reading levels. Stories like this show how important it is for one to understand what’s being asked of you. This applies not only to exams like the driver’s test but to any setting in which important information is being communicated to a variety of people.

Some of the common techniques to achieve Plain Language in your writing are the following:

• Reader-centered organization
• “You” and other pronouns
• Active voice, not passive
• Short sentences and paragraphs
• Common, everyday words
• Easy-to-follow design features (lists, headers, tables)
• Get a second opinion
• Test out your writing

Plain Language is so important, that it has its official website courtesy of the United States government (plainlanguage.gov).

Plain Language guidelines were developed in the mid-1990s to support the use of clear communication in government writing. These guidelines continue to be revised every few years to provide updated advice on clear communication. Additionally, the guidelines have gone beyond the scope of government communications and can be applied to all sorts of situations. As we change, the way we process information changes in parallel.

Plain Language.gov has developed templates, checklists, and in-depth writing guidelines to help develop communications in Plain Language with ease and confidence.

Examples of words and phrases we can simplify:

Instead of…	Use:
Mitigate	Reduce
Constitutes	Involves, makes up
Accordingly	So
Disparate	Different
Adjacent to	Similar to, next to
To comply with	Meets, matches regulation

When there are materials that concern a variety of constituents, using easy-to-understand language is what makes something accessible to people that represent the broad range of learning, language, cognitive, and physical abilities. It isn’t about reducing the number of facts or ideas expressed, but rather explaining and showing them in ways that more people can readily understand.

Nicki Harris, a first-year planning master’s student at UNC had the following to say about Plain Language following the workshop: “I think it’s important because, for a field [city planning] that talks so much about equity, it’s important that our writing is accessible to the wider public. Jargon makes things less articulate and it’s not necessary and you may end up saying something different than you’re actually trying to say.”

It’s easy for language to get misinterpreted, or misconstrued, or for someone to miss the point altogether.

Some advantages of Plain Language:

1.       It saves time.

2.       Saving time often means saving money.

3.       There are fewer errors in filling out forms or complying with requirements if they are easily understood.

4.       You can reach more people and a wider audience.

Mary Jane also emphasized the importance of practicing Plain Language techniques in graphics and visual communication. It is essential not to be afraid of simplifying something that’s written into a graphic or something else more creative that might be easier for people to follow.

At any academic institution, there is likely to be a writing resource center that can support the practice of Plain Language.  These centers can be incredibly helpful in providing that second opinion and forcing you to confront your writing from a different point of view. They often offer free services like one-on-one consultations with writing tutors, peer review sessions, and workshops.

Ryan Ford, a second-year MCRP student has had great experiences with UNC’s Writing Center. He told me “More than anything, the Writing Center provides space to untangle your thoughts, articulate ideas, and avoid any unnecessary jargon. While they won’t write your essay for you, the people there push you to explain your arguments in language that anyone should be able to follow.”

In professional settings, if you are doing a lot of writing and drafting written or graphic materials, it is important to hold yourself and your colleagues to a standard of clear, concise communication. While writing this piece, I found myself consistently reevaluating my use of Plain Language techniques, to make it a clear article to follow and digest. Plain Language isn’t an exact science and can never totally meet everyone’s needs. However, it aims for improvement, and that in itself is a crucial step in the right direction. In the same way that city planners must continually adapt city and regional landscapes to enhance accessibility, adopting Plain Language techniques represents an ongoing commitment to creating a more inclusive and easily navigable communication landscape.

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Citations

Plainlanguage.gov

Plain Language Workshop handout from Mary Jane Nirdlinger

Plain Language Writing — An Essential Part Of Accessibility, Andrew Pulrang, Forbes, October 22^nd 2020.

An autistic man kept failing Maryland’s driver’s test. Officials changed it, Justin Wm. Moyer, The Washington Post, September 26^th, 2023.

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Edited by Kimmy Hansen

Featured image courtesy of Candela Cerpa