The Good Stuff – S3 E2 (Plain English for Nonprofits)

The second episode of The Wheel’s three-part series about language and the nonprofit sector.

It’s all about keeping it simple and saying what you mean.

The podcast’s guest is Sean Driver, who works with the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) as their plain English editor, and he explains why it’s so important to use straightforward language whenever we can.

NALA have Plain English guidelines that offer tips for making your writing as clear as possible. Some of the tips Sean discusses include:

• Think of the person reading your information
• Be direct and use the active voice most of the time
• Avoid unnecessary jargon
• Define unfamiliar abbreviations and acronyms
• Avoid Latin and French expressions
• Have an average of 15 to 20 words in each sentence
• Remove unnecessary words and phrases.