Professional writing for e zine 2

Tips for your PROFESSIONAL WRITING IN ENGLISH

Use Plain English What are 6 reasons for keeping sentences short?

6 reasons for keeping sentences short Easier to remember More dynamic Easier to read Less likely to confuse Easier to write Makes the message more obvious.

Gobbledygook is English writing which is horribly complicated and difficult to understand. Coming up is an example of gobbledegook. It is an email a library sent to someone who had asked for permission to put up a poster. Plain English not gobbledygook

Your enquiry about the use of the entrance area at the library for the purpose of displaying posters and leaflets about Welfare and Supplementary Benefit rights, gives rise to the question of the provenance and authoritativeness of the material to be displayed. Posters and leaflets issued by the Central Office of Information, the Department of Health and Social Security and other authoritative bodies are usually displayed in libraries, but items of a disputatious or polemic kind, whilst not necessarily excluded, are considered individually. Your enquiry about the use of the entrance area at the library for the purpose of displaying posters and leaflets about Welfare and Supplementary Benefit rights, gives rise to the question of the provenance and authoritativeness of the material to be displayed. Posters and leaflets issued by the Central Office of Information, the Department of Health and Social Security and other authoritative bodies are usually displayed in libraries, but items of a disputatious or polemic kind, whilst not necessarily excluded, are considered individually. Thank you for your letter asking for permission to put up posters in the library. Before we can give you an answer we will need to see a copy of the posters to make sure they won't offend anyone. Example of gobbledygook Your enquiry about the use of the entrance area at the library for the purpose of displaying posters and leaflets about Welfare and Supplementary Benefit rights, gives rise to the question of the provenance and authoritativeness of the material to be displayed. Posters and leaflets issued by the Central Office of Information, the Department of Health and Social Security and other authoritative bodies are usually displayed in libraries, but items of a disputatious or polemic kind, whilst not necessarily excluded, are considered individually. Your enquiry about the use of the entrance area at the library for the purpose of displaying posters and leaflets about Welfare and Supplementary Benefit rights, gives rise to the question of the provenance and authoritativeness of the material to be displayed. Posters and leaflets issued by the Central Office of Information, the Department of Health and Social Security and other authoritative bodies are usually displayed in libraries, but items of a disputatious or polemic kind, whilst not necessarily excluded, are considered individually. Thank you for your letter asking for permission to put up posters in the library. Before we can give you an answer we will need to see a copy of the posters to make sure they won't offend anyone. Example of gobbledygook Plain English Plain English

Here is a letter sent to the British Council by a university. (Name of university is here disguised – to avoid embarrassment!)

It is upon this background that Something University Students Guild Ministry of Gender and Female Affairs forwards the request for support and guidance to share this project hoping the experience you will amass and disseminate while working with us will not only contribute amicably to the success and promotion of this female student’s public speaking contest aimed at imparting skills needed to foster sustainable community development and capacity building in ensuring a significant role be paid by the women with effective communication skills to decrease HIV/AIDS pandemic through sensitisation and awareness using well developed communication ability within female students at university level.

Golden rules for Plain English Use simple everyday words

Use simple everyday words not like….. Promulgation antidisestablishmentarianism

Antidisestablishmentarianism is the longest word in the English language. How do you spell it? i t

Use verbs instead of nouns Simplification of texts results in the ability of readers to increase their understanding of the writers intentions . When we simplify texts, readers are able to understand the writers intentions better.

Cut those redundant words We cut out redundant words so as to make improvements in clarity in our writing and also to shorten our texts.

Shorten this sentence In the event of a price increase, we will renegotiate the contract we currently have with you. If the price increases, we will renegotiate our contract.

Proverbs disguised as gobbledegook – what is the famous English proverb hidden under these words? There are to be found a multiplicity of phenomena the appearance of which may well suggest they consist of a certain precious metal but on the other hand many of these said phenomena are not the real article. There are to be found a multiplicity of phenomena the appearance of which may well suggest they consist of a certain precious metal but on the other hand many of these said phenomena are not the real article. All that glitters is not gold

Those persons who consume just one single sample of this produce on a regular basis will discover that their requirement for a member of the medical profession is remarkably seldom required. Proverbs disguised as gobbledegook – what is the famous English proverb hidden under these words?

Avoid clich é s Plainenglish.co.uk did research and found the following are considered the 8 most annoying clichés

2 at this moment in time 1 at the end of the day 6 awesome 5 address the issue 4 with all due respect 7 basically 3 I hear what you are saying 8 the bottom line the 8 most annoying clichés

Don’t be ambiguous She hit the man with an umbrella.

Don’t be ambiguous The killer was sentenced to die twice.

Don’t be ambiguous The stolen painting was found by a tree

Proof-read carefully: Some famous gaffs because of lack of proof-reading "Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life"

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure" Proof-read carefully: Some famous gaffs because of lack of proof-reading

"We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur" Proof-read carefully: Some famous gaffs because of lack of proof-reading

"Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas." Proof-read carefully: Some famous gaffs because of lack of proof-reading

Check your spelling – even though you have a spell-check on your PC Here’s why you might miss spelling mistakes:

'I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt!'

Next British Council Professional Writing in English Courses: 12 – 13 September 14 – 16 November Contact: [email_address] 0414 460800

Next British Council Write Effective Reports Courses: 25 – 26 August 5 – 6 December Contact: [email_address] 0414 460800

Next British Council Project Proposal Writing Courses: 5 – 6 September 7 – 8 November Contact: [email_address] 0414 460800

Professional writing for e zine 2

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Professional writing for e zine 2