Write in plain English

Writing in plain English helps readers understand your message the first time they read it and makes it clear what action they need to take.

1. Think about your audience

Take a few minutes to think about:

• who your main audience is
• your key message for them – one key thing you want them to know and/or do
• why it’s relevant to them: what need of theirs will it meet?

2. Open with what matters most to your audience

Make your key message the first thing you say! Make it clear in:

• the main heading and/or email subject line
• and in the opening paragraph.

You can give the background, context and add more details further down if needed.

Example: The library will be closed on Saturday 9 April from 06:00-12:00 for electrical maintenance work. (Not: Due to electrical maintenance, the library will be closed...)

Why: so people know at once if your message is relevant to them. 

3. Use "you" and "we"

Address your reader directly, instead of using the third person. Readers will know from the context who "you" is.

• Say "we" when referring to your organisation or department.
• If needed you can define at the start who is meant by "we" and "you".

Example: We expect you to abide by our regulations (not: The University expects staff and students to abide by its regulations.)

Why: it's more engaging for the audience and makes us look more approachable. It helps people know what's relevant to them and whether they need to take action.

4. Avoid the passive voice

Use active verbs. Make the protagonist of your sentence the person or thing that's doing something, not the thing that is being done.

Examples: 

• Sarah used the laptop (not: the laptop was used by Sarah)
• Send your application to... (Not: The application needs to be sent to...)

Why: the active voice makes it easy to see who is doing what. It's clear who needs to take action and what they need to do.

Exception: when you want to be less direct, such as to avoid apportioning blame. Your fine hasn't been paid, is softer than: You haven't paid your fine.

5. Write short sentences and paragraphs

Make a single point per sentence.

• Aim for an average sentence length of around 15 to 20 words
• Vary the length so your text doesn't sound monotonous
• See if you can break a sentence into two
• It's ok to start a new sentence with "And" or "But"

Keep to a single topic per paragraph.

• Make the key point or topic clear from the first sentence
• Start a new paragraph when changing topic

Why: it’s easier to find and digest information in small and clearly defined chunks.

6. Use lists

Use bullets to make multiple points easy to scan. Use numbered lists to break down sequential steps.

Example: 

• Use bullets to make multiple points easy to scan. 
• Use numbered lists to break down sequential steps.  

Why: your readers can scan information more easily.

7. Use the simplest words that work

Substitute a simpler word to see if it would sound ok in your text - usually it will.

If a complex word is the correct term and there's no simpler way to say it, use it. If it's a technical term that might be new to your audience, define it the first time you use it. 

Don't use jargon and acronyms unless you're sure the audience will know them: new people won't know many organisation-centric terms.

Examples:

• Need, not require, requirement
• Tell, not inform
• Use, not utilise
• Help, not assist or assistance
• Extra or more, not additional

More examples: A-Z of alternative words from the Plain English Campaign.

Why: we can all understand the words in the examples above. But the shorter version has the same meaning and sets a more active, friendly tone. This makes your text shorter and quicker to read.

8. Avoid nominalisations ("zombie nouns")

Nominalisations are nouns made out of other words, often verbs. It's often better to use the base word in your sentence than the nominalisation. 

This 5-minute video explains all: Beware of nominalizations (AKA Zombie Nouns) (YouTube)

Examples:

• Provide, not provision
• Fail, not failure
• Available, not availability
• Engage, not engagement
• Investigate, not investigation

Why: nominalisations make sentences hard to process and can hide who is doing what.

Edit your text

Your first draft will probably not be as clear and concise as it could be

Once you have a draft:

1. Remind yourself of the audience's needs. Does it tell me if it's relevant for me straight away? Is it easy to scan and pick up on key themes?
2. Paste your draft text into the Hemingway editor. It helps you spot passive voice, overly-long sentences, complex words that could be changed into simpler ones, etc. Hone your draft in there.
3. Can you shorten it? George Orwell said, “If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.” Look for padding you can cut, like:

• please be aware that… 
• in order to… 
• therefore it is recommended that… 
• in the process of being… 
• work collaboratively with…

Try pair writing for important work

Work with a colleague to craft important communications and documents, especially if you'll share them with many people. This works very well, especially if the other person is less familiar with the content.

Get them to ask you questions, such as:

• who's your target audience?
• is this the best angle?
• are the key points at the top?
• what do you mean by this?
• is there a simpler way to say this?

Everyone scan reads: we all have little time and short attention spans. Plain English helps people understand if and why your communication matters to them.

It gets your message across: it makes it clear to people what action they need to take, leading to better outcomes for you and your audience.

It's more accessible: it's especially helpful for the 10% of the population with a visual impairment or reading disability such as dyslexia.

It saves your audience time: it may take you longer to write in plain English, but this pays dividends as it saves everyone else time and makes your communication more effective. 

It's appropriate for leaders and academics: the more educated the person and the more specialist their knowledge, the greater their preference for plain English, because it allows them to understand the information as quickly as possible. See Writing well for specialists on the Gov.uk website