Plain language, grammar and tie-pose MAGC workshop Hennepin County - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Plain language, grammar and tie-pose

MAGC workshop

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Find the errors

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

I want to insure that this is an affective class that illicits alot of participation. To make less errors and take your writing farther, its very important that you learn simple techniques to solve everyday writing problems.

Find the errors

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

I want to ensure that this is an effective class that ellicits a lot of participation. To make fewer errors and take your writing further, it’s very important that you learn simple techniques to solve everyday / every day writing problems.

Find the errors

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

The park is a little over 5 miles from here. If a resident plans on attending, they should use the shuttle bus. The first 100 residents will receive complementary ice cream. Check the Internet for details. For questions, please feel free to contact myself.

Find the errors

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

The park is a little over (more than) five miles from here. If residents plan on attending, they should use the shuttle bus. The first 100 residents will receive complimentary ice cream. Check the internet for directions. For questions, please feel free to contact me.

Words arrive and definitions change

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

• Awesomesauce
• Hella
• Butt-dial
• Hangry
• Dadbod
• Beer/wine o’clock
• Daughter
• Nimrod
• Meat
• Silly
• Nice

English is difficult

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

• 1,100 ways to spell 44 distinct sounds
• Rules aren’t really rules
• Standard English is agreed-upon conventions that evolve

So what can you do?

• Use plain language to connect with your readers

What is plain language?

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

With everything you publish, your audience should be able to:

Find

what they need

Understand

what they find

Use

that information to meet their needs

Who uses plain language?

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

• All federal government agencies
• States – Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, Florida, Texas
• Countries – Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Great

Britain, Hungary, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden (since 1982)

• Many health care companies and some banks

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Decreased

• Cost
• Frustration

Does it work?

Increased

• Reader understanding and

satisfaction

• Access to services and

benefits

• Compliance with regulations

Yes, results include:

How to apply plain language

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

The goal is clear, concise and scannable

• Include only what the audience needs
• Organize so key information is featured
• Use descriptive headings and white space
• Avoid acronyms, jargon and odd capitalization
• Use personal pronouns

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Clear, concise and scannable

Texas.gov

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin.us

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Clear, concise and scannable

Clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

500px.com User Conduct (legal version is 571 words): Basically, You cannot use our site to post pornographic material, harass people, send spam, negatively vote on all photos, and do other crazy stuff. Be reasonable and responsible, don't do anything stupid and you'll be fine.

Clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Make it clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Before: Failure of recollection is common. Innocent misrecollection is not uncommon. After: People often forget things or make mistakes in what they remember.

Make it clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Actual State Department question Have you ever been refused admission to the U.S., or been the subject of a deportation hearing or sought to obtain or assist

• thers to obtain a visa, entry into the U.S., or any other U.S.

immigration benefit by fraud or willful misrepresentation or other unlawful means? Have you attended a U.S. public elementary school on student (F) status or a public secondary school after November 30, 1996 without reimbursing the school? Yes □ No□

Make it clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Please check any of the following that apply to you. Have you: Been refused admission to the U.S.? Been the subject of a deportation hearing? Sought to obtain or assist others to obtain a visa or entry into the U.S. by fraud or willful misrepresentation? Attended a U.S. public elementary school on student (F) status? Attended a U.S. public secondary school after November 30, 1996 without reimbursing the school?

Make it clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

If the county agency finds that an individual has received a payment to which the individual was not entitled, whether or not the payment was due to the person’s fault or misrepresentation, the individual shall be liable to repay the county the total sum of the payment to which the individual was not entitled.

Make it clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

If we gave you money you were not meant to have, you must pay it all back.

Make it clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County's 2016 Backpack Challenge is well under way and we have been collecting all sorts of school supplies. Collection of school supplies will continue through August 10th, so remember to shop this weekend and bring them in next week! Items can be placed in the collection boxes located on each floor. If you prefer to make a cash/check donation, please give it to_________. Make check payable to HC Treasurer and write backpack challenge on the memo line. **New this year** If HR/LR collects 200+ items, we will celebrate with a treat social hour in

• September. (Please note that one box equals one item, one box of 100 crayons does not

equal 100 items. A backpack equals 5!  ) THANK YOU for your support of this important program!

Make it clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Help us collect school supplies in the 2016 Backpack Challenge!

How to contribute

• Supplies – place items in the collection boxes located on each floor.
• Money – cash and check donations can be given to _________.

Make checks payable to HC Treasurer and write backpack challenge on the memo line.

Deadline

• August 10

Prizes

If we collect 200+ items*, we will celebrate with a treat social hour. * 1 box of crayons/pencils = 1 item; backpack = 5.

Make it clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

iPad update message Available for: iPhone 5 and later, iPad 4th generation and later, iPod touch 6th generation and later Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted contact card may lead to unexpected application termination Description: An input validation issue existed in the parsing of contact cards. This issue was addressed through improved input validation.

Make it clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

iPad update message We don’t really know what happened, but it was bad. We’re trying to fix it. Please ignore this message and focus on updating your credit card information so we can continue to bill you for unapproved in-app purchases. BTW – we know everything you do and everywhere you go.

Make it clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

The ABC Collaborative, which consist a group of trainers from around the State, is happy to announce a new and exciting training opportunity for those interested in becoming a facilitator of the LMN

• program. **see information below about the LMN curriculum**

This training will consist of 6 online training session (6 modules for 2 hrs each) and 2 in- classroom “face-to-face sessions (2 classroom days for 8 hrs each). There will also be “inter- session work assignments” (preparatory assignments) required prior to each session that bring the total training hours to 40 hours. The TRAIN THE TRAINER Training (Online and classroom training) will be on the dates of: 10/6, 10/8, 10/13, 10/15, 10/20, and 10/22 – 2 hrs online & the week of 11/2-11/6 – (2 consecutive days) classroom – at 3 separate locations. Applications must be submitted by 5:00 pm on September 11th, 2015. Successful candidates will be notified by the selection panel by September 18th, 2015.

Make it clear, concise and scannable

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Sign-up now to become a facilitator in the LMN program. Training requirements

• 6 online, 2-hour sessions in October
• 2 in-person, 8-hour sessions in November
• 12-hours of homework assignments

Application deadline September 11 at 5 p.m.

Successful candidates will be notified by September 18.

Plain language resources

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

• www.plainlanguage.gov

Federal plain language information

• www.centerforplainlanguage.org

National organization dedicated to promoting plain language

• www.hennepin.us/writingguide

Hennepin County resource with writing tips and information on plain language

Brian.Lieb@Hennepin.us 612-543-1276

Brian Lieb

Hennepin County

Brian Lieb

Plain language writing training

www.bliebcommunications.com facebook.com/bliebcommunications