State agency and research partners recently joined us for a workshop on simplifying language.
Building on a wealth of experience working with immigrants and English learners to communicate clearly, Lee Shainis developed the workshop to help nonprofits, government, and others communicate in a way that is easier for people to quickly understand. He walked our teams through a series of enlightening exercises to reduce text by 20-50% without changing content.
Lee emphasized the importance of approaching our communications with humility, recognizing that growth requires vulnerability and an openness to feedback. With that in mind, we humbly—and sincerely—invite you to let us know when our communications aren’t clear.
We highly recommend this session and encourage you to join us in the journey to simplify language! Learn more at www.simplifylanguage.com and reach out to Lee Shainis directly at lee@simplifylanguage.com.
Why It Is Important to Communicate Clearly
Simplify Language by Lee Shainis
- Information overload means communications need to be brief.
- Jargon, idioms and overly wordy communications pose literacy and language barriers.
- When we don’t understand, we might:
- pretend to understand,
- avoid and ignore, or
- misinterpret.
The Colorado Lab, state agency and research partners took part in the Simplify Language workshop. We had great engagement, shared many aha! moments, and enjoyed learning together!