January 9, 2013 PLAIN LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL MEDIA Katherine Spivey

1. January 9, 2013 PLAIN LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL MEDIA Katherine Spivey

2. Presenter Katherine Spivey Plain Language Launcher General Services Administration katherine.spivey@gsa.gov or plainlanguage@gsa.gov

3. Overview and objectives We’ll discuss how social media and plain language intersect, and why. If you are responsible for your agency’s social media, you’ll learn: • Plain writing principles • Social media best practices • Strategies and tactics for writing in plain language

4. What is plain language? Plain language is a style of writing that allows readers to: • Quickly find what they need • Understand what they read or hear • Use what they read to fulfill their needs the first time they read or hear it Definition

5. Techniques • Many writing techniques allow users to quickly and easily understand what they are reading: • Reader-centered organization • Design features such as headers, tables, and bullets • Short sentences and paragraphs • “You,” “we,” and other pronouns • Active voice • Verbs, not nouns • Consistent terms, not jargon or acronyms • Common, everyday words What is plain language?

6. What governs plain language? The Plain Writing Act of 2010 • According to the Plain Writing Act of 2010, all new government documents that meet the following criteria must be written in plain language by October 13, 2011: • Documents that are necessary to get government benefits or services, or for filing taxes • Documents that provide information about federal benefits or services • Documents that explain to the public how to comply with a federal requirement • The legislation applies to both paper and electronic letters, publications, forms, notices, and instructions.

7. Organize to serve the reader • Focus on what the reader needs to know—not what you want to say • Know your audience—how much do your readers already know? Aim for the least common denominator

8. Organize to serve the reader (examples) • GSA ITS Twitter (Twitter) • Analytics, APIs and Open Content Resources (Digital Services Innovation Center)

9. Use headings • Allow the reader to quickly find relevant information and navigate the content • Increase white space on the page to break up information so reader can scan

10. Use headings (examples) • Five guiding principles for FY13 (Great Government through Technology) • IT and Change Management in the Federal Workplace (Great Government through Technology)

11. Use lists • Make it easy for the reader to identify all items or steps in a process • Use numbers for steps in process, bullets for everything else • Add blank space for easy reading

12. Use lists (example) • The Twelve Facts of HSPD-12 (Great Government through Technology)

13. Use short paragraphs • Limit a paragraph to one subject or step • Smaller bites of info are easier to digest • Aim for no more than 7 lines

14. Use short sentences • Treat only one subject in each sentence • Avoid complexity and confusion • Aim for 20 words per sentence or fewer

15. Use short sentences and paragraphs (examples) • GSA ITS Twitter (Twitter) • The Twelve Facts of HSPD-12 (Great Government through Technology) • IT and Change Management in the Federal Workplace (Great Government through Technology)

16. Use pronouns Remember! Your reader is a person, not an entity. Use pronouns to: • Speak directly to readers • Make your writing relevant to readers • Require less work from your readers • Cut words

17. Use pronouns (example) • IT and Change Management in the Federal Workplace (Great Government through Technology)

18. Use active voice, not passive • Active voice is more clear, concise and direct • Passive is a characteristic of bureaucratese (not plain) • “Mistakes were made.”

19. What is passive voice? • The person doing the action usually follows the verb. Example: Arlene was promoted by her boss. Active voice version: Arlene’s boss promoted her. • The verb has two parts: The verb “to be” plus the past participle of another verb. Example: The house will be leased by Fred. Active voice version: Fred will lease the house.

20. Use active voice, not passive (example) • New York, One Month After Sandy (Department of Homeland Security blog)

21. Use verbs, not nouns Instead of … • Conduct an analysis • Present a report • Do an assessment • Provide assistance • Came to the conclusion that Use these! • Analyze • Report • Assess • Help • Concluded

22. Use verbs (example) • IT and Change Management in the Federal Workplace (Great Government through Technology)

23. Don’t sound so bureaucratic! • Limit jargon and acronyms • Use contractions • Use everyday words

24. Two kinds of jargon • Necessary technical terms Example: Habeas corpus, plaintiff • Obscure and often pretentious language marked by circumlocutions and long words Example: Hereby, Wherefore, ab initio

25. Limiting acronyms and abbreviations • Use “we” for the agency • Don’t use acronyms/abbreviations for infrequent phrases • Try another style (the Department) • Make them pronounceable (STARS, TRACON, FSDO)

26. Use contractions Instead of … • The mission of the department • The goal of the training • The location of the office • The goals of the employee • The needs of the agency Use these! • The department’s mission • The training’s goal • The office’s location • The employee’s goals • The agency’s needs

27. Use everyday words Instead of … • Anticipate • Attempt • Commence • Demonstrate • Implement • In the event that • Submit • Terminate Use these! • Expect • Try • Begin, start • Show, prove • Start • If • Send, give • End, cancel

28. Use ordinary words (example) • The Twelve Facts of HSPD-12 (Great Government through Technology)

29. Twitter Physical limitations • 140 characters • # tweets/day (attention) • Build the Twitter brand Best practices • Linking to a web page or photo (use plain language to avoid misleading links and to meet readers’ expectations) • Using hashtags • Put link early in tweet to avoid losing it • Howto.gov’sMicroblogging page

30. Facebook Physical limitations • How long before you get “More” or “See More” or “Continue Reading” • Add photos • Add video • Add/share links Best practices • GSA's Facebook page • Howto.gov’sSocial Networks and Government page

31. Blogs Physical limitations • Goal is to engage readers to get feedback or comments • Need to hook readers in first sentence • Don’t bury information in dense paragraphs or sentence Best practices • Headers • Bulleted lists • Pronouns • Active voice • Customers’ words • Howto.gov’sBlog page

32. YouTube • Use plain language for video scripting • People can’t scan through videos. It’s disrespectful of their time to make them sit through a presentation that’s not geared to what they want—or need—to know • People leave videos if they’re not getting the information they want • Howto.gov’sVideo page

33. Resources • Howto.gov– government social media’s responsibilities and successes • Howto.gov/training– on-demand webinars on plain language and social media • Plainlanguage.gov – website of the Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN)