Plain Language

Determine who your audience is and what they need to know. The best way to understand your audience is to make them feel human. Communication will be more effective and direct when you understand who you are trying to reach. 

How do I do this?  

• Talk to your colleagues who work directly with students and the public. They know what questions people ask and the problems they encounter.  

• Work with Institutional Advancement. Institutional Advancement can help with communicating in plain language. 

• Have people who know nothing about the subject review the message.  

Our audience needs specific information. If we try to cover too many topics, we will frustrate them and dilute our message. Our audience is more likely to follow instructions if they are short and to-the-point. 

How do I do this?  

• Identify your main point. Decide what is the most important topic before writing.  

• Include only key information. Be specific about what we want the audience to do, how to do it, and any deadlines.  

• Use links to websites for more detail on the topics. Direct our audience to online information. This helps keep our message short, but still includes descriptions of other information they may want more details about or that we are required to give them.  

Choose words your audience normally uses, not what you and your colleagues use. “Pedagogy” is a common word to use among peers, but it is not common for our community members. Our audience will be more likely to pay attention to our message if it is plain, conversational language. Simple vocabulary is also more accessible for translation. 

If we must use a specialized term, define it for our readers.  

How do I do this?  

• Select plain rather than “formal” words. Plain language is not “oversimplifying” language. Plain language shows respect for busy people who aren’t familiar with our specialized terms.  

• Imagine writing to an intelligent friend who knows nothing about our work.  

• Ask front-line colleagues. They engage with our students daily, describing policies and instructions. Listen to the words they use. 

• Do not use jargon 

• Avoid acronyms. If we must use an acronym, we should define it on first reference and use parentheses with the acronym or abbreviation next to the name. Most of the time, a proper noun can be referred to on second reference in a different manner. For example, Institutional Advancement becomes “the division” on second reference instead of IA. 

Jargon is overly complicated language that excludes people who are new to an organization or environment. Jargon, at best, sends your audiences on a Google search to identify what you mean, taking them off our website or away from our message. At worst, readers could end up feeling isolated and intimidated.  

How do I do this?  

• Check your vocabulary. Higher education is known for its jargon and heavy use of acronyms. Make clarity a priority when writing. For example, instead of “asynchronous,” write “at different times” or instead of “highly non-trivial” write “not quick or easy to accomplish.”  

• Metaphors, allusions, and similes are all forms of writing that include figures of speech. They assume a baseline of knowledge that, in turn, can potentially alienate our audiences. Identify and remove metaphors. Rewrite your message with the most clear and direct wording based on your audiences’ needs.  

The active voice shows who is responsible for doing what. This helps to reduce confusion. Our readers will know who is doing what, which will help them quickly grasp our message and understand their responsibilities.  

How do I do this?  

• Use either personal pronouns or name the person doing the action.  

• Place the subject (the “doer”) at the beginning of the sentence. For example, instead of “New policies were adopted,” consider “We adopted new policies” or “Bellevue College leadership adopted new policies.” 

• Use active voice to establish ownership and accountability. 

The personal pronouns “you” and “we” can take the place of nouns, such as “citizens” and “the staff and faculty.” When the writer is an “I” or a “we” and the reader is a “you,” the reader understands quickly who the message is for, who is sending it, and how they fit into the message 

How do I do this?  

• Establish the department or person sending the message in the opening of our communication, then use “I” or “we.”  

• Assume the reader is the intended recipient and refer to them as “you.”  

Communication will be easier to read if we keep our sentences short. Try limiting sentences to fewer than 20 words and paragraphs to fewer than five sentences.  

It is easier for audiences to absorb information when they read one idea at a time. The audience can more easily choose to read only the information they need.  

How do I do this?  

• Cut out unnecessary words.  

• Make one point per paragraph. Ideally, each paragraph should focus on one main idea, and each sentence should cover one point of that idea.  

• Shorten documents or web pages by removing information that applies to only a few readers. More specialized or detailed information can be put in a link or attachment.  

The design of your page is as important to its readability as the words you have chosen. The right design will highlight your messages so your customers can scan the document quickly. Headlines and sub-headlines are the visible outline of your document. This makes the document more readable, and the reader can scan the document more quickly, by breaking up large chunks of text. 

How do I do this?  

• Institutional Advancement is a resource for design work. Creative Services can be requested through the Marketing Request Form. 

• Pick one font. If needed, use a maximum of two simple fonts. Bellevue College’s standard font is Myriad Pro 11 or Calibri 11. These fonts are larger and more readable than other fonts, including Times New Roman 12-point font. 

• Use boldfaced subheads to break up the text. 

• Emphasize important information with bold or italics – but use sparingly. Highlight only important words and phrases, but not entire sentences or paragraphs.  

• Do not underline unless you are indicating a link.  

• Choose bullets for lists when order isn’t important. Stick to one-bullet style.  

• Use numbers for directions and outlines. This shows the order instructions must be followed or indicates a level of importance.  

• Create white space. Allow for at least a one-inch border in letters. Place white space between paragraphs to separate large blocks of text.  

• Align your text. Use a left-justified, ragged-right text alignment for letters. It keeps the spacing between words consistent and is more accessible and easier to read.