What do we mean by “plain language”?

It’s always tempting to try to dazzle readers with vocabulary and wit. But when we do that, it can be easy to miss the point of communication: to share information and be easily understood.

In the late 1940s, a British civil servant named Sir Ernest Gowers got fed up with the “officialese” being used by his colleagues. Looking to make their work sound highly important, government officials loaded up their correspondence with all kinds of jargonistic, verbose, long-winded prose. The resulting text was practically indecipherable. So Gowers wrote a manual titled Plain Words, urging the civil service to write like normal people. His request: Be short, be simple, be human.

In doing so, he became the first champion for what we now call plain language.

At Ascribe, we’re big believers in the power of plain language. If you say what you mean as simply and clearly as possible, readers are more likely to get your point. But when we talk about providing plain language writing or editing services to our clients, what do we actually mean by that? What does it look like in practice? Here are a few ways we apply it in our work:

1. It’s about using the right type of language, not just the shortest words.

A common misconception about plain language is that it’s just about writing in small, easily understandable words. While it’s true that overly complex words may be best replaced with several simpler words, there’s more to plain language than that. It also means removing jargon and highly technical terminology where possible, even if the jargon is in the form of small words. If there’s no way around using the jargon, providing a short explanation on first mention can help keep readers engaged.

2. It doesn’t mean dumbing things down.

When the content is technically or conceptually complex, striking the right balance between simplicity and accuracy can be tough. Fortunately, the point of plain language is to bring out meaning, not strip away substance. It’s about putting ideas in context and clearly spelling out implications so readers understand what you want them to think and why. It’s about explaining your argument, not compromising your subject matter.

A great example is Stephen Hawkings’ book, A Brief History of Time, which presented hugely complex concepts in 224 succinct pages and resonated with both casual readers and physicists alike.

3. It means keeping it simple and concise.

Long sentences and huge blocks of text can be intimidating or confusing for readers. Plain language is about using short sentences and paragraphs, conveying just one or two thoughts at a time. That way, there’s less chance of losing the reader — and it should become very clear to the reader what they are to take away from the text.

At the same time, keeping it simple also means avoiding overly elaborate turns of phrase, colloquialisms or metaphors. While they may energize the writing, they could easily confuse readers who come from different linguistic backgrounds.

4. It focuses on presenting content with the readers’ needs in mind

Plain language writing also involves careful consideration on how best to present, format and organize the content. For example, using larger font sizes can help draw attention to important elements on the page (such as callout boxes), while meaningful headers and subheads throughout the document improves scannability so readers can easily find the sections that are most relevant to them.

Similarly, using figures where appropriate and including tables to present numeric information can all help improve readability.

Discover the Ascribe difference

Our team is well versed in writing tight, active and engaging plain language copy. Our reputation has been built on communicating complex scientific, medical, technological and academic concepts clearly and accessibly — from the industrial metaverse to home heating and cooling to the annual story of the National Research Council of Canada — all while respecting the rigour and precision of specialized source material.

Contact us today to find out how Ascribe can bring the power of plain language into your marketing communications.