Last week Kylie Miller and I were teaching our new Get It Write program with a team. We start by talking about the importance of being human in our writing.
One participant challenged us on this notion.
He said simple, clear, plain English is fine when communicating with consumers, but formal professional language is still essential in business, especially when dealing with contracts.
I disagree.
I don’t suggest we go all slangy and #UrbanDictionary. But the conversational voice and a soupçon of humanity help our readers connect with what we’re trying to say.
Julia Steel showed me this great initiative by Aurecon.
They’ve stripped more than 4,000 words out of their standard employment contract and created a visual contract in their place. It looks more like a comic strip than the usual legalese with dense, fine print. The language is accessible, friendly and welcoming. One of Aurecon’s principles is to make the complex simple. And here, they are genuinely walking their talk.
What documents would you like to see given the ‘human’ treatment? I’d love to get stuck into procurement documentation. I’m yet to see a Tender or Request For Quote that passes my pub test.