At Ideen, we work with many government clients who deal with weighty, complicated issues. To borrow a phrase – these are “wicked problems” that require complex solutions. But, do they require complex writing?
While our clients understand that they must reach out to their stakeholders and communicate information about these issues as clearly as possible, they often fail because they obfuscate their message. Nothing kills buzz like unclear writing.
We find that many times, our clients don’t realize that their communications are opaque, wordy, or otherwise difficult to read. Our government clients tell us that formal language “sounds more authoritative.” Our government IT clients argue that “everyone understands cloud computing or enterprise architectures.” And our government policy clients claim that federal law and authorities will always win the day.
Our work with the public, however, indicates otherwise.
Check Your Content Quickly for Warning Signs
We've developed a short checklist of warning signs for government writers to use when drafting content for broader audiences:
- Check your white space. If the text looks dense, it probably is. Look for extra words that can be eliminated.
- Check for active voice. Show your audience that you’re taking action – use the active voice.
- Check for headers. Try breaking up your message into bite-size chunks with headers. These wonderful little phrases can serve as guideposts for your readers.
- Check for visuals. Where possible, use imagery and visual representations of your message. Do you use a lot of numbers? Put them in a chart. Do your discuss topics geographically? Include a map.
- Check for acronyms. Reduce your use of acronyms where possible. This requires a lot of creativity for government writers, but the payoff is clear, buzz-worthy writing.
