Why clear writing is part of your equity journey
Written by Katie Test davis
The other day, it took two (2!) Forthright teammates forty (40!) minutes to change a formal letter into a clear, friendly note.
Simple writing is famously hard. Yet it is always the right thing to do for our communities.
Easy-to-read messaging is kind. It helps your audiences understand your work and what you want them to know. On the flip side, when a message uses big words, acronyms and jargon, it is – by definition – exclusionary.
We run a workshop called “Writing for Your Community,” teaching leaders how to create easy-to-understand messaging. Every time we lead the training, I get all fiery on my insides. This is my personal passion.
Complex messaging is discriminatory
Complicated phrases we often see in our line of work tell readers they are not welcome. They subtly (and sometimes not-so-subtly) tell the reader, “it doesn’t matter if you understand what we’re saying here.”
Let’s look at a couple of examples written for caregivers:
“Medical examiners are mandated reporters and therefore required to disclose maltreatment.”
“Parents and guardians should augment their understanding of issuances that characterize the arena of school safety.”
Um. What?
These phrases silently say:
“Don’t know what a mandated reporter is? Well then, you don’t belong here.”
“If you don’t already know what the arena of school safety means, we don’t need you.”
Often, that isn’t what the message sender means or intends! We hear from partners that you want people to understand your messaging, and you want people to know what to do next. Yet the writing doesn’t line up with the intention.
So why do we see exclusionary language so often? Because writing simply is trickier than it sounds.
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Simple messaging is kind AND necessary
It’s easy to jot a quick memo that only your colleagues understand. It’s a whole lot harder to scrub it of jargon, shorten words, explain your terms and lay it out in a thoughtful way.
The people you’re writing to are worn out. Our country’s parents are exhausted. Even your peers who aren’t parents are deeply burnt out.
Complicated messages demand that readers arrive with a certain level of understanding. They require too much of the person’s focus, time and effort. You’re making your tired audiences work so much harder to get the information you want them to have.
Making things easy to understand means you care about your audiences. It means you’re inviting them into your work and that you want them here with you.
We’ve got you
Getting people the information they need is my personal “why”.
I’m proud of what we do every day. I love helping our clients create great messages that are easy to read and remember. It’s what children and families need right now (and always).
Throughout the next year, we’re sharing more resources on how to make your work easy to understand. In the meantime, here are some resources to get you started:
The blog post “Power of 1” gives tips on paring down your message
Our free downloadable PDF “Writing For Your Community” walks you through how to test your messaging and check for readability
The blog post “Why No One is Listening” reminds you to repeat your message at least seven times
Glad to walk alongside you in this work!
