It was a tough challenge this time–translating this legalese passage into plain language. Before: Should any vacancy occur on the Board, such vacancy shall be filled forthwith by the appointment of a nominee by the Shareholder who is not then represented by the nominee to which he is entitled. The prize goes to Melissa Reiter,
Clarity: thinking speaking writing
Category Archives: Writing Contests
Can you rewrite the sentence below in plain language? Here’s some context: The company has 2 shareholders and each one sits on the Board. “Should any vacancy occur on the Board, such vacancy shall be filled forthwith by the appointment of a nominee by the Shareholder who is not then represented by the nominee to
Congratulations to R Don for winning this writing contest. The challenge was to rewrite this paragraph: If experience results seem excessive or aberrant compared to historical information, detailed reports may be ordered so that an analysis of the claim components can be completed. We try to determine what is driving the claims in order to
Rewrite the following paragraph to make it plain, concise and active. In case you’re wondering, it’s about employee benefit claims. If experience results seem excessive or aberrant compared to historical information, detailed reports may be ordered so that an analysis of the claim components can be completed. We try to determine what is driving the
For this contest, all you have to do is turn this into plain language. It needs to be warmer in tone and it’s pretty wordy. Good luck! Please find enclosed Uplands Utilities Data Licensing agreements in duplicate for the City of Westland—Traffic Engineering and Operations, Operations and Maintenance Division Public Work Department. We request that
The winner of last newsletter’s writing contest is Andrea Fitzsimons from Chubb Insurance, the first person to unjumble these sentences by Oscar Wilde: 1. Life is far too important a thing to ever talk seriously about. 2. It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious. 3. We
For this writing contest, you need to unscramble the words in each sentence to create an epigram. These are all by Oscar Wilde. Have fun. Seriously to talk important is ever a far thing about life too. Charming and good people are absurd. To divide either into tedious or bad people is it. Us we
Thanks to everyone who entered our August 2010 writing contest. The challenge was to rewrite this horrifically negative email. (Yes, it’s real!) First Prize goes to Ruth Melady, Policy Specialist at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Congratulations Ruth! By the way Ruth was a winner in our Oct ’09 contest, and won a
This email is sick, and not in a good way. Its tone does nothing to encourage my compliance. Instead it makes me angry. Try rewriting it—make it positive, reader centred, friendly and persuasive. Subject: Portable Signs As you are all aware, portable signs are becoming the norm, yet this act stands in blatant contravention of
February’s contest was a tough one—rewriting a ridiculously legalistic agreement in plain language The winners are Kathy Ward AND Jennifer Ross. I like Kathy’s entry because she uses plain language so well. Notice her use of personal pronouns, which makes the document so easy to read. Here’s Kathy’s entry: Laboratory Service Agreement August 19,
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