# Tools to help with writing: Simple language Canonical page: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language - SlideShare title: Tools and strategies for writing in simple language - Talk date: Not established - SlideShare upload: 2019-05-22 (upload date, not the delivery date) - Event: Not established - Place: Not established - Topics: Access & reading - Language: en - Slides in the original listing: 127 - Coverage: Full text of all 127 slides, each paired with its original slide image (slide N is section N). - Original listing: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/147073079 - Cover image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-01.png - Reader data (JSON): https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/presentation.json - TalkWeaver package (outline and images, ZIP): https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language-talkweaver.zip - TalkWeaver outline: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/talkweaver/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language-outline.md ## Slide 1: Tools to help with writing Simple language Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-1 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-01.png ![Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence badge.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-84294b65bbfc0cd6.png) ## Slide 2: Slide 2 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-2 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-02.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the Metaphor Hacker blog post “The complexities of simple: what simple language proponents should know about linguistics (updated)”, with its table of contents.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-caf21ae559c8fa76.png) ## Slide 3: Slide 3 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-3 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-03.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) - Why? - Speed of reading - Accessibility - International impact ![The slide's original page: a circle labelled “Why?” with an arc of three labelled icons: a running figure for Speed of reading, a wheelchair user for Accessibility and a globe for International impact.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-03.png) ## Slide 4: Slide 4 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-4 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-04.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of a Boomerang blog post with four bars showing email response rates by reading level: 46% for emails written at a kindergarten reading level, 53% at a 3rd grade level, 45% at a high school level and 39% at a college reading level.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-c03af31f50f8c370.png) ## Slide 5: What makes language simple? Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-5 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-05.png ## Slide 6: No perfect communication Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-6 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-06.png ## Slide 7: Even with arrows Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-7 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-07.png ## Slide 8: Which way will the lift go? Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-8 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-08.png ![Photograph of two lift buttons: a green button with an upward arrow above a red button with a downward arrow.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-242f21f1ab235d40.jpg) ![Photograph of a metal lift panel with a lit red button above the label “VJÍŽDÍ” and two buttons labelled “PŘIVOLÁVAČ” and “ODESÍLAČ”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-fb23b0e78bae47fe.jpeg) ## Slide 9: Which way will you turn the wheel of your car? Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-9 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-09.png ![Photograph of a road with white lettering and a line painted on the tarmac.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-3582d899cd774241.jpeg) ## Slide 10: Which way will you turn your wheel now? Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-10 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-10.png ![Photograph of a road with white lettering and a line painted on the tarmac.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-3582d899cd774241.jpeg) ## Slide 11: What makes text easy to read? Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-11 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-11.png ## Slide 12: Slide 12 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-12 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-12.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) - How? - Formatting - Structure - Language ![The slide's original page: a circle labelled “How?” with an arc of three labelled icons: a typewriter for Formatting, a puzzle piece for Structure and speech bubbles for Language.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-12.png) ## Slide 13: I wanted to write you a short letter Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-13 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-13.png ## Slide 14: I wanted to write you a short letter but I didn’t have time. Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-14 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-14.png ## Slide 15: I wanted to write you a short letter but I didn’t have time. So I wrote you a long one instead. Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-15 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-15.png ## Slide 16: … or Franklin or Pascal or Locke or somebody else. Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-16 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-16.png ![Black-and-white portrait photograph of Mark Twain, an older man with white hair and a moustache, wearing a suit.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-e8e74f228763c962.jpeg) > I wanted to write you a short letter but I didn’t have time. So I wrote you a **long one instead**. > > Mark Twain ## Slide 17: Simple and clear writing is not natural. It is harder and more time consuming than complicated writing. Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-17 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-17.png ## Slide 18: Bad advice Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-18 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-18.png ## Slide 19: Slide 19 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-19 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-19.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) - Avoid passives - Be informal / write conversationally - Avoid redundancy - Avoid jargon - Use simple words - Use short 'English' words - Write short texts ![The slide's original page: six dark blue bars listing the pieces of advice, each with a small cartoon face icon at its left.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-19.png) ## Slide 20: Don’t avoid passives too much Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-20 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-20.png | | | |---------------------------------|----------------------------------| | The School was founded in 1996. | They founded the School in 1996. | ![The slide's original page: two grey boxes side by side with a dark blue plus sign above the left box and a dark blue minus bar above the right box.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-20.png) ## Slide 21: Don’t be too informal Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-21 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-21.png | | | |----|----| | You must confirm your attendance. | Why don’t you let us know that you’re coming. | ![The slide's original page: two grey boxes side by side with a dark blue plus sign above the left box and a dark blue minus bar above the right box.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-21.png) ## Slide 22: Redundancy can reduce errors Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-22 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-22.png | | | |-----------------------|--------------| | next Tuesday (24 Dec) | next Tuesday | ![The slide's original page: two grey boxes side by side with a dark blue plus sign above the left box and a dark blue minus bar above the right box.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-22.png) ## Slide 23: Redundancy can aid comprehension Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-23 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-23.png | | | |-----------------|-------| | Tuesday, 24 Dec | 24/12 | ![The slide's original page: two grey boxes side by side with a dark blue plus sign above the left box and a dark blue minus bar above the right box.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-23.png) ## Slide 24: Simple words don’t always make things clear Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-24 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-24.png | | | |---------------------------|------------------------------| | Attendance will be taken. | We will check who showed up. | ![The slide's original page: two grey boxes side by side with a dark blue plus sign above the left box and a dark blue minus bar above the right box.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-24.png) ## Slide 25: Short English words don’t always make things better. Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-25 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-25.png | | | |----|----| | We will provide accommodation. | We will put you up. / We will find you a place to stay. | ![The slide's original page: two grey boxes side by side with a dark blue plus sign above the left box and a dark blue minus bar above the right box.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-25.png) ## Slide 26: Which is simpler? Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-26 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-26.png - get - acquire ![The slide's original page: two large arrows pointing at each other, a purple one labelled “get” from the left and a red one labelled “acquire” from the right.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-26.png) ## Slide 27: Slide 27 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-27 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-27.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the Editor Settings dialog of a word processor listing checks under Clarity and Conciseness, Formal Language, Inclusive Language and Punctuation Conventions; the Complex Words check is ticked and outlined in red.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-40683089fe399cbe.png) ## Slide 28: Slide 28 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-28 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-28.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the sentence “We may want to acquire a better solution.” with a suggestion menu headed “Consider using a simple word” offering “buy” and “get”, and an “Ignore Once” option.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-598ec5cbad3d821b.png) ![Screenshot of the Editor Settings dialog of a word processor listing checks under Clarity and Conciseness, Formal Language, Inclusive Language and Punctuation Conventions; the Complex Words check is ticked and outlined in red.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-40683089fe399cbe.png) ## Slide 29: Slide 29 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-29 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-29.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of an online dictionary entry for “acquire”, with two numbered senses, a phrase and the word's origin.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-89f2739aee8746b5.png) ![Screenshot of a long online dictionary entry for “get” with many numbered senses and example phrases.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-05040e2461f5504e.png) ## Slide 30: Slide 30 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-30 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-30.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of an online dictionary entry for “acquire”, with two numbered senses, a phrase and the word's origin.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-89f2739aee8746b5.png) ![Screenshot of the whole online dictionary entry for “get”, shrunk into a narrow strip to show how long it is.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-9cd3a718cc872676.png) ## Slide 31: Slide 31 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-31 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-31.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the translations of “get” into French: a numbered list of fifteen verbs, from “obtenir” to “faire blesser”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-2f5b58f9b0a09095.png) ![Screenshot of the translations of “acquire” into French: four verbs, “acquérir”, “obtenir”, “prendre” and “gagner”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-dec04f88dfcc131c.png) ## Slide 32: Slide 32 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-32 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-32.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the translations of “acquire” into Russian: a numbered list of eight verbs.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-c0dabcc8861c9534.png) ![Screenshot of the translations of “get” into Russian, a very long numbered list shrunk into a narrow strip.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-8b6cc0789a53fa29.png) ![Small screenshot of the end of the list of Russian translations of “get”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-db14d6dea9adb444.png) ## Slide 33: Slide 33 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-33 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-33.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the top of the web page “19 English Phrasal Verbs With Get”, with a green “Study” label and an introduction saying that phrasal verbs are commonly used by native speakers.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-5fffd3a6c1503989.png) ![Screenshot of the “What you will learn” list of the same page: the phrasal verbs from “Get across” to “Get up to”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-dd3f6d5d1a29601c.png) onlineteachersuk.com/phrasal-verbs-get ## Slide 34: Slide 34 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-34 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-34.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the top of the web page “19 English Phrasal Verbs With Get”, with a green “Study” label and an introduction saying that phrasal verbs are commonly used by native speakers.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-5fffd3a6c1503989.png) ![Screenshot of the “What you will learn” list of the same page: the phrasal verbs from “Get across” to “Get up to”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-dd3f6d5d1a29601c.png) ![Screenshot of the entry “11. Get on” with six numbered senses, a to f, each with an example sentence.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-14c7ba0f2d937ad5.png) onlineteachersuk.com/phrasal-verbs-get ## Slide 35: Non-native speakers will not always find short and easy words as easy to understand as you think. Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-35 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-35.png ## Slide 36: Good advice Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-36 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-36.png ## Slide 37: Slide 37 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-37 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-37.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) - Formatting - Space - Structure - Guides / Graphics - Structure - Important first, background last - Clear outline - Shorter sentences - Language - Limit politeness - Avoid embedding and clusters - Don't take out too much - Tools - Test readability - Listen to what you wrote - Get help with editing ![The slide's original page: four grey columns headed Formatting, Structure, Language and Tools, each holding three dark blue boxes with the items listed above.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-37.png) ## Slide 38: Who does it well? Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-38 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-38.png ## Slide 39: Slide 39 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-39 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-39.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the GOV.UK page “Housing Benefit” with its contents list, an “Eligibility” section and a list of related content.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-5aa466cdcff4d161.png) ## Slide 40: Slide 40 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-40 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-40.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of a web page for the Oxford Diploma in Organisational Leadership, with a photograph of people working around a table and details of the start date, duration, time commitment, location and cost.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-553901a97576bf8f.png) ## Slide 41: Slide 41 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-41 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-41.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of a web page, “Class profile (2018)”, with five statistics (class size, average age, nationalities, employment sectors and female students) and a quotation praising the Oxford Diploma in Organisational Leadership.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-4aab233263c08cee.png) ## Slide 42: Making things more readable with formatting Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-42 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-42.png ## Slide 43: Slide 43 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-43 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-43.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of a long page headed “History - Original”: a dense history of Saïd Business School in unbroken paragraphs.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-5b45b76d2f4d7a1f.png) ## Slide 44: Chunking makes texts more readable Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-44 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-44.png ![The slide's original page: two pages of the same history text side by side. On the left the unbroken “History - Original” page; on the right “History – Step 1”, the same text split into short paragraphs under headings such as Founding, Early history and School of Management Studies.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-44.png) ## Slide 45: Word Navigation feature is great for outlines Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-45 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-45.png ![Screenshot of Microsoft Word with the View tab's Navigation Pane option marked and a navigation pane listing the headings of a document titled “History – Step 1”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-643dcdf9ad92cc1d.png) ## Slide 46: Make sure you use headings Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-46 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-46.png ![Screenshot of Microsoft Word showing the document “History – Step 1” with its headings, the Navigation pane at the left and the Styles pane at the right with Heading 1 to Heading 5 and Title.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-ff6f48ba9a2e720e.png) ## Slide 47: Mindmaps help with chunking, structure, outline Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-47 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-47.png ![Screenshot of a mind map with “Writing simple language” in the centre and branches including Tools, Spoken vs written language, Style / Genre, Bad advice and People support.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-d2c5edafba4c5071.png) ## Slide 48: Slide 48 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-48 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-48.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![The slide's original page: two versions of the history text side by side. On the left “History – Step 1” with headings and short paragraphs; on the right “History – Step 3”, with a timeline arrow across the top (dates 1965, 1990, 1996, 2002 and 2012 with short captions) above the same text.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-48.png) ## Slide 49: Tips for more readable structure Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-49 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-49.png ## Slide 50: Slide 50 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-50 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-50.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) - Structure - Important first, background last - Show outline - Shorter sentences ![The slide's original page: a circle labelled “Structure” with an arc of three labelled icons: a target for Important first, background last; a balance for Show outline; and two figures, one small and one tall, for Shorter sentences.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-50.png) ## Slide 51: Start with an outline Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-51 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-51.png ![Screenshot of a Daily Mail article headed “British Steel could collapse TODAY: Firm is on brink of collapse with 25,000 jobs on the line as it struggles to secure government loan”, followed by three bullet points and a byline.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-4cb787abb00a3286.png) ## Slide 52: First things first Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-52 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-52.png ![Screenshot of a Daily Mail article headed “British Steel could collapse TODAY: Firm is on brink of collapse with 25,000 jobs on the line as it struggles to secure government loan”, followed by three bullet points and a byline.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-4cb787abb00a3286.png) ## Slide 53: Background last Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-53 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-53.png ![Screenshot of the later part of the same article: background about British Steel's forerunner, its privatisation in 1988 and its sale to Tata Steel.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-0d41905e25b96282.png) ## Slide 54: Short paragraphs can help you get away with more complicated sentences Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-54 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-54.png ![Screenshot of the Hemingway Editor with the Daily Mail article text highlighted in yellow and red, and a panel counting adverbs, passive voice, phrases with simpler alternatives and hard-to-read sentences.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-82cb8cc56f480d62.png) ## Slide 55: F-shaped scanning pattern Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-55 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-55.png © Nielsen Norman Group 2017 ![Heat map of eye-tracking over a web page in the F-shaped scanning pattern, with a red and yellow band across the top, a shorter band below and a vertical band down the left side. Credit: Nielsen Norman Group.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-d3b6692e58c191bd.png) ## Slide 56: Slide 56 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-56 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-56.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) > “F-shaped scanning pattern is **bad for users and businesses**: it means that users may **skip important content** simply because it appears on the right side of the page.” > > — (Kara Pernice, 2017) ## Slide 57: Slide 57 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-57 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-57.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the article “The Best Antidotes to the F-Shaped Pattern” from Nielsen Norman Group, with eight numbered tips for formatting content.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-066d599efc5d7ff3.png) (Kara Pernice, 2017) ## Slide 58: How to use Hemingway app to simplify language Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-58 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-58.png ## Slide 59: Readability scores Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-59 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-59.png ![Screenshot of the Hemingway Editor's readability panel: a grade level marked “Poor”, with reading time, letters, characters, words, sentences and paragraphs counts.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-25a968c6ce5df5d6.png) ![Screenshot of the Hemingway Editor's coloured panels counting adverbs, uses of passive voice, phrases that have simpler alternatives, and hard and very hard to read sentences.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-1a65493ec6eb37ea.png) ## Slide 60: Check readability Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-60 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-60.png ![Screenshot of the Hemingway Editor in a browser with the “History – Original” text mostly highlighted in red and a high grade level with a “Poor” rating.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-26f3b24a1a44890d.png) ## Slide 61: Slide 61 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-61 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-61.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the Hemingway Editor with a revised version of the same history text, much less highlighted, with a lower grade level.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-ec5b7c64fe70e885.png) ## Slide 62: Do experts pass the test? Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-62 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-62.png ![Screenshot of the Hemingway Editor with text from the Plain English Campaign's “About us” page, with passages highlighted in red and a panel of counts.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-a0a1e71caab60f71.png) ## Slide 63: About us by Plain English Campaign Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-63 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-63.png **plainenglish.co.uk/about-us.html** ![Screenshot of the Hemingway Editor with text from the Plain English Campaign's “About us” page, with passages highlighted in red and a panel of counts.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-a0a1e71caab60f71.png) ## Slide 64: Complexities of simple by Dominik Lukeš Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-64 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-64.png **metaphorhacker.net** ![Screenshot of the Hemingway Editor with a section of the blog post “Complexities of simple”, with passages highlighted in red, yellow and green.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-654e0df9c72a0b21.png) ## Slide 65: Plain Language Is for Everyone, Even Experts Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-65 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-65.png by Hoa Loranger, 2017 ![Screenshot of the Hemingway Editor with the start of the article “Tips for Writing in Plain Language”, with passages highlighted and a panel of counts.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-9ea9a24ef856ab29.png) ## Slide 66: Tips for simpler language Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-66 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-66.png ## Slide 67: Avoid too much politeness … Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-67 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-67.png Welcome to this site We are very pleased to have the opportunity ## Slide 68: …but only in context Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-68 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-68.png ![Screenshot of an email being written in Outlook with the subject line “slides” and a one-line message with no greeting asking for the slides as soon as possible.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-2f4f7ba79ee6f50d.png) ![Screenshot of an email being written in Outlook with a greeting, a polite request for the presentation slides and a sign-off.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-a7c9e34b462c9a91.png) ## Slide 69: Limit hedges and indirectness Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-69 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-69.png This is might be a useful tool If it’s not too much trouble ## Slide 70: Strip out unnecessary language Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-70 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-70.png **Bad:** "You may like to register by clicking here." **Good:** "Register here“ **Better:** Register ![Icon of a shopping basket, shown before the word Register.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-90b3ac0e78043f0a.png) ## Slide 71: Verbs over nouns Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-71 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-71.png **Less good:** “Your attendance is important." **OK:** “It is important that you come.” **OK:** “Please come. It is really important” ## Slide 72: Beware of noun clusters Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-72 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-72.png **Bad:** operations review evaluation task force **Less bad:** task force for the evaluation of our operations review **Better:** task force evaluating our review of operations ## Slide 73: Simple imperatives in lists of activities Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-73 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-73.png **Good:** '10:30 - Swim in the lake’ **Bad:** '10:30 - Swimming in the lake’ **Good:** 'Achieve objectives’ **Bad:** 'To achieve objectives’ **Good:** 'Explain’ **Bad:** 'Explanation Of...' ## Slide 74: Limit complex embedding and if statements Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-74 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-74.png **Less good:** The man we met yesterday was a famous artist. **OK:** We met a man yesterday. And he was famous artist. **Good:** We met a famous artist yesterday. ## Slide 75: Don't strip out linking phrases Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-75 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-75.png **Good:** "John didn't eat because he didn't like soup." **OK:** "John didn't like soup. So he didn't eat." **Less good:** "John didn't eat. He didn't like soup." ## Slide 76: Think about when to use nouns vs pronouns Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-76 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-76.png Jane was late. She overslept, then she missed the bus. This is the fifth time in a month she did something like that. Her boss would be angry. So **Jane / she** thought of an excuse. Colour in the source slide: in the last sentence “Jane” is green and “she” is red, both in bold type. The slide gives no key for the colours. ## Slide 77: Avoid too much repetition, but not all of it Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-77 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-77.png Jane was late. She overslept, then she missed the bus. This is the fifth time in a month she did something like that. Her boss would be angry. So **Jane / she** thought of an excuse. Colour in the source slide: in the last sentence “Jane” is green and “she” is red, both in bold type. The slide gives no key for the colours. ## Slide 78: Readability Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-78 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-78.png ## Slide 79: What is readability? Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-79 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-79.png ## Slide 80: What typical level of education is required to understand a text? Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-80 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-80.png ## Slide 81: Aim for GCSE (or less) Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-81 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-81.png Grade 9 – 11 ## Slide 82: Note: 14-year old reading level does not mean, 14-year old content. Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-82 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-82.png ## Slide 83: Measured by: Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-83 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-83.png - length of sentences - length of words - frequency of words ## Slide 84: But don’t game the readability scores. Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-84 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-84.png ## Slide 85: Slide 85 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-85 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-85.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the top of a Medium article, “Tips and Tools for Improving Your Content Readability Score”, by Blog Hands.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-5adcf6f5548ab250.png) ## Slide 86: Slide 86 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-86 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-86.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of a section of the same article, “Readability Tips You Can Put Into Practice Now”, with the sub-headings Shorten your sentences, Shorten your words and Use fewer syllables.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-2ec0a8d1de412f9a.png) ## Slide 87: Slide 87 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-87 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-87.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the Hemingway Editor with a long text on the left, mostly highlighted in red and yellow, with a high grade level and a red oval around a long sentence.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-a3c148de11db74e7.png) ![Screenshot of the Hemingway Editor with a shortened version of the same text on the right, much less highlighted, with a low grade level and a red oval around a sentence.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-01fff5e1e8a173e0.png) ## Slide 88: Readability tools Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-88 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-88.png ## Slide 89: Slide 89 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-89 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-89.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the Readable.io text analyser with a text pasted in, highlighted passages and a readability rating of “D” in a panel on the right.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-de9db3226b1c6740.png) ## Slide 90: Slide 90 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-90 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-90.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of a Readable.io report with the rating “D” in an orange circle and tables of readability grade levels, text statistics and text quality.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-9e0edf071f20e599.png) ## Slide 91: Slide 91 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-91 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-91.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of a Readable.io page, “Text Summarizer”, with its menus open: General Tools (Case Converter, Accent Remover, Text Summarizer, Keyword Density Analyzer, Gender Analyzer), Detectors (Buzzword Detector, Stop Word Detector, Hedge Word Detector) and Readability Algorithms.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-90109979b63ac362.png) ## Slide 92: Slide 92 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-92 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-92.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the “Buzzwords Detector” of Readable.io with a text in which buzzwords are underlined.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-396dee4af477d08d.png) ## Slide 93: Slide 93 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-93 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-93.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the results page of the textalyser.net text analyser: a table with the total word count, number of different words, complexity factor, readability (Gunning-Fog Index), sentence count and average sentence length.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-8053ce7ca02ac3df.png) textalyser.net ## Slide 94: Slide 94 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-94 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-94.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the results page of the textalyser.net text analyser: a table with the total word count, number of different words, complexity factor, readability (Gunning-Fog Index), sentence count and average sentence length.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-8053ce7ca02ac3df.png) ![Screenshot of the textalyser.net frequency table, listing the most frequent words (language, simple, english, text, words, how, these, different, like, sentence) with occurrences, frequency and rank.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-bcf4e0858a5facc0.png) textalyser.net ## Slide 95: Slide 95 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-95 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-95.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the Readability Test Tool web page with a “Test by URL” form and a results box saying that the page has an average grade level of about 9 and should be easily understood by 14 to 15 year olds.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-bced2f1f5c1a25bc.png) Don’t trust URL analysis ## Slide 96: Word choice Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-96 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-96.png ## Slide 97: Slide 97 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-97 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-97.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Reduced view of the whole xkcd comic “Up Goer Five”: a tall blueprint of a rocket.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-e0b567ea7636fef0.png) ![The whole xkcd comic “Up Goer Five”, a tall blueprint of a rocket with labels written in simple words.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-7e0eb4092fc60489.png) Up Goer Five by XKCD CC BY NC https://xkcd.com/1133 ## Slide 98: Slide 98 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-98 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-98.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Reduced view of the whole xkcd comic “Up Goer Five”: a tall blueprint of a rocket.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-e0b567ea7636fef0.png) ![Detail of the xkcd comic “Up Goer Five”: the rocket engines, labelled “Lots of fire comes out here” and “This end should point toward the ground if you want to go to space”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-6fd54b96bbf68c80.png) Up Goer Five by XKCD CC BY NC https://xkcd.com/1133 ## Slide 99: Slide 99 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-99 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-99.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the Up-Goer Five Text Editor, with the text “I like bananas” and the message “Uh oh! You have used a non-permitted word (bananas)”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-4d757a5baa0b076c.png) ## Slide 100: Slide 100 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-100 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-100.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the Up-Goer Five Text Editor, with the text “I like fruit that is yellow” and the message “Uh oh! You have used non-permitted words (fruit, yellow)”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-d1ab5048e9b3f504.png) ## Slide 101: Slide 101 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-101 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-101.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of the search page of iWeb: The 14 Billion Word Web Corpus, with the word “purpose” typed into the Word search box.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-a278a2ece3aa4b0f.png) **corpus.byu.edu/iweb** ## Slide 102: corpus.byu.edu/iweb Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-102 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-102.png ![Screenshot of the iWeb results for the word “purpose”: its frequency, topics, collocates, clusters and related words.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-93e6dd74cf9cd728.png) ## Slide 103: corpus.byu.edu/iweb Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-103 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-103.png ![Screenshot of the iWeb key-word-in-context view for “purpose”: a long list of lines from web pages with the word highlighted.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-752e4f2fb99fc7ed.png) ## Slide 104: Grammar, spelling, style Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-104 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-104.png ## Slide 105: Slide 105 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-105 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-105.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of Grammarly with a “Set goals” dialog over a document, offering Intent, Audience, Style, Emotion and Domain settings.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-80ed31a37b176686.png) ## Slide 106: Slide 106 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-106 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-106.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of Grammarly with a “Performance” panel over the document “Our history”: an overall score, word count, reading time and readability measures.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-260623d4c8ed35c9.png) ## Slide 107: Slide 107 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-107 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-107.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of Grammarly with a “Conventions” panel suggesting the British spelling “organisations” for “organizations”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-229d595352174e07.png) ![Green thumbs-up icon.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-1a1433a28578e20d.png) ## Slide 108: Slide 108 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-108 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-108.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of Grammarly with a “Conciseness” panel suggesting “some” or “many” in place of “a number of”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-9fdc7127c5559da6.png) ![Green thumbs-up icon.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-1a1433a28578e20d.png) ## Slide 109: Slide 109 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-109 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-109.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of Grammarly with a “Punctuation” panel suggesting the removal of a comma after “Oxford”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-5d1484b83329b7be.png) ![Green thumbs-up icon.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-1a1433a28578e20d.png) ## Slide 110: Slide 110 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-110 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-110.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![The slide's original page: a Grammarly window with the document “Our history” on the left and a “Variety” panel open, suggesting “operate” as a synonym for the repeated word “work”. At the lower right of the page is a yellow hand icon turned sideways, its thumb pointing left, its fingers curled up and its cuff below; it is neither thumbs-up nor thumbs-down.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-110.png) ## Slide 111: Slide 111 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-111 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-111.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![The slide's original page: a Grammarly window with the document “Our history” on the left and a “Vocabulary” panel open, suggesting “sizeable” in place of “large”. At the lower right of the page is a yellow hand icon turned sideways, its thumb pointing left, its fingers curled up and its cuff below; it is neither thumbs-up nor thumbs-down.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-111.png) ## Slide 112: Slide 112 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-112 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-112.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![The slide's original page: a Grammarly window with the document “Our history” on the left and a “Spelling” panel open, suggesting “11-degree” in place of “11 degree”. At the lower right of the page is a red thumbs-down icon: a red hand with its thumb pointing down and its cuff on the right.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-112.png) ## Slide 113: Slide 113 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-113 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-113.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![The slide's original page: a Grammarly window with the document “Our history” on the left and a “Clarity” panel open, flagging “was constructed” as passive voice. At the lower right of the page is a red thumbs-down icon: a red hand with its thumb pointing down and its cuff on the right.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-113.png) ## Slide 114: Slide 114 Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-114 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-114.png (The slide shows no title; the heading above is its contents label.) ![Screenshot of Grammarly with a “Plagiarism” panel reporting that a high share of the text matches a page titled “Our history \| Said Business School”.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-20b9be6baf37f2a5.png) ![Green thumbs-up icon.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-1a1433a28578e20d.png) ## Slide 115: Editing tools Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-115 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-115.png ## Slide 116: Listen to what you wrote Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-116 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-116.png ![The slide's original page: a Microsoft Word window with the Review tab open and the Read Aloud button highlighted above a paragraph of the history text. The slide holds a screen recording (video) of this feature, which this package does not carry.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-116.png) ## Slide 117: Listen to what you wrote Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-117 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-117.png ![Screenshot of Microsoft Word with the Read Aloud control selected and a speed and voice menu open (voice: Microsoft Hazel).](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-b219d5cc7b9f7bd2.png) ## Slide 118: Readability in Word Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-118 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-118.png ![Screenshot of the Word Options dialog, Proofing section, with the option “Show readability statistics” among the grammar settings.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-07a09babd49d53be.png) ## Slide 119: All spelling errors must be corrected or ignored Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-119 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-119.png ![Screenshot of Microsoft Word with a Readability Statistics dialog open: counts of words, characters, paragraphs and sentences, averages per sentence and per word, and the Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level scores.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-832730afda115a4b.png) ## Slide 120: Word online has different features Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-120 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-120.png ![Screenshot of Word online with a Spelling & Grammar menu open: Spelling, Editor Settings, AutoCorrect Options and Set Proofing Language.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-275f85f90196cdb1.png) ## Slide 121: Word online has different features Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-121 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-121.png ![Screenshot of the Editor Settings dialog of Word online, with the Clarity and Conciseness, Formal Language, Inclusive Language and Punctuation Conventions checks all ticked.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-c1e3c85c5222d15c.png) ## Slide 122: People over tools Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-122 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-122.png ## Slide 123: Writing / editing buddies / beta readers Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-123 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-123.png - Agree set of principles - Agree targets - Use checklists - Constructive Feedback rules ![The slide's original page: four dark blue panels side by side with a double-headed arrow beneath them. Each has an icon and a label: two figures dancing for Agree set of principles, a target for Agree targets, a checklist for Use checklists and a thumbs-up for Constructive Feedback rules.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/page-123.png) ## Slide 124: Careful that you don’t end up speaking to an internal audience to tick boxes. Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-124 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-124.png ## Slide 125: Ask online for help Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-125 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-125.png ![Screenshot of the Writing Stack Exchange home page, “Explore Our Questions”, with a list of questions and site statistics.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-b46389508f50677b.png) ## Slide 126: Be careful who you ask. People who write well often don’t know how they do it. And beautiful prose is not always easy to read. Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-126 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-126.png ## Slide 127: Thank you Cite: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language#section-127 · Original slide image: https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/pages/page-127.png This presentation was created by Dominik Lukeš and it is made available under Creative Commons Attribution license ![Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence badge.](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/readers/tools-and-strategies-for-writing-in-simple-language/media/img-84294b65bbfc0cd6.png) Collections: [Reading, writing and accessibility](https://slides.dominiklukes.net/?collection=access)