WEBVTT
00:00:07.568 --> 00:00:13.736
Hi, i'm Carl from OSP and this is Communicate, connect Grow, the OSP podcast.
00:00:13.736 --> 00:00:20.425
On today's episode, we're talking about making writing easy to understand with the editorial code SIMPLE.
00:00:20.425 --> 00:00:31.542
If you want to be a more effective writer, a more transparent editor, develop clearer strategic thinking or learn from our network of expert friends and colleagues, that's what we're here for.
00:00:31.542 --> 00:00:37.192
We divide our episodes across three themes Communicate, connect and Grow.
00:00:37.192 --> 00:00:44.121
This is a Communicate episode and we're talking about using clear language with our editorial code SIMPLE.
00:00:44.121 --> 00:01:08.347
The SIMPLE editing code falls into the style and phrasing phase of the editing process and it's about being mindful of who you're writing for.
00:01:08.347 --> 00:01:14.132
In our documentation about this code, it says use SIMPLE language where possible.
00:01:14.132 --> 00:01:17.689
This is especially important for international audiences.
00:01:18.441 --> 00:01:19.968
Hi, i'm Felicity Brand.
00:01:19.968 --> 00:01:22.406
I'm a communications consultant at OSP.
00:01:22.406 --> 00:01:28.070
The SIMPLE code is about using SIMPLE language to get your message across.
00:01:28.070 --> 00:01:34.243
It's about being mindful of your audience and writing in a way that helps them reach understanding.
00:01:34.243 --> 00:01:38.950
No one will ever complain that you've made things too simple to understand.
00:01:38.950 --> 00:01:45.472
I wish that quote was from me, but that's from Anne Handley, one of her 13 writing rules.
00:01:45.472 --> 00:01:47.286
We'll put that in the show notes.
00:01:47.286 --> 00:01:53.591
The SIMPLE code falls in our accessibility category of our editing codes.
00:01:53.591 --> 00:01:58.962
It's about making sure that the writing can be understood by as broad an audience as possible.
00:01:58.962 --> 00:02:08.971
You might have heard of things like the fleshkin-cade readability test and that measures how easily written language is to understand.
00:02:08.971 --> 00:02:13.810
It looks at sentence length, word length and number of syllables.
00:02:13.810 --> 00:02:17.381
That's what this SIMPLE code is about, hi.
00:02:17.883 --> 00:02:18.645
Jeffrey McGuire.
00:02:18.645 --> 00:02:18.907
Here.
00:02:18.907 --> 00:02:22.346
Most people call me Jam because my middle initial is an A.
00:02:22.346 --> 00:02:26.805
I am a co-founder and partner at Open Strategy Partners.
00:02:26.805 --> 00:02:46.889
These helpful editing and writing codes that we're talking about came originally from people trying to decode and share my editing brain with our team, and I'm really, really pleased with the results after a few years of doing this together.
00:02:46.889 --> 00:02:59.867
The sort of writing that we do mostly at Open Strategy Partners when we're helping technical agencies, product companies, b2b technical businesses.
00:02:59.867 --> 00:03:13.991
We're helping them communicate the value of the things that they build and giving people on the outside the opportunity to try it or download it or join a community or make a purchase.
00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:23.447
One of the founding ideas about Open Strategy Partners was developers and marketers don't always know how to talk with each other.
00:03:23.447 --> 00:03:27.931
These are both communities of people that tend to use jargon.
00:03:27.931 --> 00:03:29.284
There's lots of business jargon.
00:03:29.284 --> 00:03:31.407
There's lots of certainly lots of technical jargon.
00:03:32.099 --> 00:03:45.132
It can be pretty easy to explain things to your peers in ways that make sense to you, because you do it every day And you might forget that not everybody's up to speed on your language.
00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:54.913
So I really feel it helps everyone if you make things as simple as possible and as complex as it needs Right.
00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:01.932
So there's an idea for my taste in this writing of keeping things fairly plain and fairly clear.
00:04:01.932 --> 00:04:26.341
The other side of that coin is in my life story and I am multilingual And by the time I was in graduate school in New York City, i was living in a building with 700 people from probably 100 countries around the world And I learned very, very quickly that I had to speak very clearly and choose my words very carefully.
00:04:26.341 --> 00:04:54.343
And doing that helped me make friends and have terrific experiences, and I really think there's value in being mindful about how we're communicating And in this technology world where we're helping people, i am just as glad to help my client make a sale in an English-speaking country as in a non-English-speaking country or whatever language we're working in, because we know work in multiple languages.
00:04:54.343 --> 00:05:04.331
But essentially, to make the content as accessible as possible, we should write as well as possible and we should be as simple and as clear as we possibly can.
00:05:04.752 --> 00:05:21.689
I am Christine Bueller and I work for Open Strategy Partners as a communications consultant, where I work on blog posts, newsletters, emails, case studies all sorts of communications materials.
00:05:21.689 --> 00:05:28.101
So simple is about comprehension and clarity.
00:05:28.101 --> 00:05:49.247
It just means using simple language where it's possible to do so, which is especially important for international audiences, of which, i would probably argue, most businesses have an international audience nowadays, so important.
00:05:49.728 --> 00:05:50.990
Hi, my name is Chris.
00:05:50.990 --> 00:05:53.675
I work at OSB as a copyright editor.
00:05:53.675 --> 00:05:59.860
I think simple is as it says is very simple Don't use too complicated language.
00:05:59.860 --> 00:06:02.550
I mean, i think there's a couple of ways you can interpret that.
00:06:02.550 --> 00:06:08.009
I think on the one hand it can be vocabulary choice and the other it can be sentence structure.
00:06:08.009 --> 00:06:16.814
If your sentences are getting too long and unwieldy and difficult to follow, you can simplify them and chop them up into three separate sentences.
00:06:16.814 --> 00:06:26.228
That would be one way of simplifying and the other would be not using too much technical domain specific vocabulary if the piece is for a general audience.
00:06:28.473 --> 00:06:31.858
Let's explore how this code is used in the editing process.
00:06:32.305 --> 00:06:55.250
As an editor, when we're looking at the simple code, we're advocating for the reader, So we're thinking about all the folks out there who may be coming to this writing And remember this code is in our accessibility category, So we're being mindful of translation, a global audience, language crossing not only borders but levels of knowledge.
00:06:55.250 --> 00:07:12.916
In practical terms, this might mean avoiding jargon, spelling out acronyms, explaining technical concepts when needed, software or hardware concepts, swapping out cultural or geographically specific words.
00:07:12.916 --> 00:07:21.139
writing about tech, which is what we do a lot at OSP, can get pretty dense, pretty technical, pretty involved.
00:07:21.139 --> 00:07:31.088
So this code is about helping bring technical information to as many readers as possible by helping them understand by using simple language.
00:07:31.610 --> 00:07:32.190
As an editor.
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We have the chance to help each other at Open Strategy Partners.
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Just about everybody who writes also edits and anyone who edits also writes.
00:07:41.461 --> 00:07:43.088
So we have the chance to help each other.
00:07:43.088 --> 00:08:03.692
And a second and third pair of eyes always improves our communications And, honestly, if something is a jumble or I have to read it two and a half times to get my head around it, that's a giant signal for me to stop and figure out what's going on, If it's not an error or some other problem.
00:08:03.692 --> 00:08:08.944
I often end up finding a way to clarify things and make them simpler.
00:08:08.944 --> 00:08:21.024
Maybe make one longer sentence into two, maybe make a list of items into a bulleted list in the formatting, and open things up and keep things moving, keep things consumable.
00:08:22.548 --> 00:08:23.490
As an editor.
00:08:23.490 --> 00:08:41.298
Simple is helpful because I mean, for one thing, you don't want to be pausing to look up words all the time if you're editing something, even though you know if you are an editor, you probably have a pretty big vocabulary Not true for everyone.
00:08:41.298 --> 00:08:48.293
It's also just a kindness to your fellow editors At OSP.
00:08:48.293 --> 00:09:08.065
We definitely have writers and editors from all over the world, keeping in mind that you may have an international team of editors as well as an international audience, and you just want to make it easier for your fellow editors to read your work.
00:09:09.650 --> 00:09:12.643
I think as an editor, there's always kind of two ways you use the codes.
00:09:12.643 --> 00:09:29.897
There's like the positive reinforcement way, where if you see somebody has done something particularly elegantly in this case they've provided a particularly nice explanation of some technical concept then you would sort of say you would give them the code with a plus sign to indicate that they've done a good job there.
00:09:29.897 --> 00:09:53.020
The other way to use it is obviously where somebody needs to correct something, and in that case I think it would be the case that you know if they're trying to explain some some bit of technology, like how blockchain works or whatever, whatever it might be or how some form of encryption works, if they are doing it in a manner that is still a bit too technical, you might have to use the code to tell me to break it down.
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When writing.
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There are many different ways you can approach this code when it comes to the code simple, it can be a little bit counterintuitive.
00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:08.509
I think it's harder than you might think to write simply.
00:10:08.509 --> 00:10:19.142
It's a real skill to distill something down to its bare essentials, and you really need to understand the subject matter you're writing about to be able to do it.
00:10:19.142 --> 00:10:22.067
You can't get hand wavy if you're.
00:10:22.067 --> 00:10:35.513
If you're trying to write simply, you really need to be able to understand a thing so that you can craft your message Using simple words to best explain your point.
00:10:36.274 --> 00:10:38.697
The biggest influence here is going to be your audience.
00:10:38.697 --> 00:10:43.868
When you know who you're writing for, that will help you pitch your writing at the best level.
00:10:43.868 --> 00:10:45.710
So what am I trying to say?
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it's hard to write simply.
00:10:47.432 --> 00:11:07.937
Do your best, i would say, probably throw more words at it than you might need to, and on a second or third pass, try to whittle it down, tighten it up, being mindful of your audience, to kind of remove words that may muddy the message, and a friendly editor is also going to help you keep your writing simple.
00:11:07.937 --> 00:11:10.780
So, yeah, i guess there's no shortcuts with simple.
00:11:11.345 --> 00:11:30.913
If I've been spending a lot of time with educated native English speakers, if I've been going to cultural events, if I've been reading a lot of a certain kind of book, my fingers want to produce all sorts of wonderful and interesting and obscure words that are fun to know and fun to use.
00:11:30.913 --> 00:11:40.812
That is not the right thing to do in my professional context, which is to help people explain What the value of their, of their products and services are.
00:11:40.812 --> 00:11:45.248
So I need to remember to Wake my inner Hemingway.
00:11:45.248 --> 00:12:04.885
I am not claiming to have anything like that quality, but the idea of simple, strong Words certainly is important in how we work at OSP and we have some other codes that talk about using active verbs and they're all around getting things kind of chunky and good, yeah.
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As a writer, i'm making an effort to be cognizant of simple.
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That's probably a word I wouldn't use.
00:12:11.995 --> 00:12:28.961
There's a good example If I was writing this, because, for one thing, if you are writing to a technical audience, some words might just might not always translate.
00:12:28.961 --> 00:12:40.559
I think the main goal of any writer is to be understood, and so you don't want to be getting in your own way by using overly complicated words.
00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:47.994
Someone might not know what, for million, is which is a shade of red, but I'm sure they know red.
00:12:47.994 --> 00:12:52.660
So it's just part of being inclusive while you're writing.
00:12:53.085 --> 00:12:58.691
I don't think this is one of the things that is at the front of the minds when writing.
00:12:58.691 --> 00:13:06.139
I think it's more something that you adapt to and you kind of learn over the years of doing the job.
00:13:06.139 --> 00:13:21.660
At certain times it's appropriate to Simplify things and try to make things like really obvious for a general audience, but it's more of a thing that I think you intuitively learn as a writer and then you would maybe apply it more reflectively as an editor.
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Why is this editing code important to readers?
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how do they benefit from it?
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As a reader, don't make me feel stupid.
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Simple is about helping me understand, but don't talk down to me.
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It's a fine line.
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I'm reading an article because I'm interested and motivated to know what it has to say, so I'm seeking understanding.
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Help me achieve that by taking care of me by using simple language.
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Don't assume my knowledge.
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As a reader, i'm more likely to act on a CTA, a call to action, when I feel respected, and so I'm going to feel respected when the writing is simple to understand but it's not making me feel stupid.
00:14:08.019 --> 00:14:15.787
So we've done our work right and we've channeled the knowledge and expertise of our clients into content.
00:14:15.787 --> 00:14:24.870
I am hoping that people who could benefit from knowing about it are going to have the easiest time possible to find it and to consume it.
00:14:24.870 --> 00:14:35.931
So in other podcast episodes we talk about structuring into production, helping people decide whether to read things or not, but once they actually make that decision we've all got very limited time in our day.
00:14:35.931 --> 00:14:38.206
We've all got so many things going on at any time.
00:14:38.206 --> 00:14:50.587
I want you to be able to read what we've done, understand it and make a decision to read more, make a decision to make a purchase, make a decision to go on and look at the next thing as smoothly as you can.
00:14:50.587 --> 00:14:58.388
So that's the experience that I'm hoping that readers and consumers get when we're doing our job, like we say we want to at OSP.
00:14:59.139 --> 00:15:19.826
So, as a reader, simple is important because if I'm reading very long, complex jargony words then, depending what those words are, I might not feel like this paper is intended for me to read.
00:15:19.826 --> 00:15:31.830
If you're not using simple language, it kind of kicks more people out of the audience category more quickly, which is usually not what you want.
00:15:32.259 --> 00:15:37.744
I think for a reader I mean again, the reader is not necessarily conscious of what's going on when they're reading the piece.
00:15:37.744 --> 00:15:39.710
it's more about the effect that it has on them.
00:15:39.710 --> 00:15:46.205
So if sentence is getting too long and unwieldy, then they'll just get lost and then they might jump to another piece.
00:15:46.205 --> 00:16:00.774
And likewise, if you're trying to give some sort of explanation and then it sounds more like it's angel developers than a general audience, then they might also just stop reading and close the tab and then you've fail to engage the people you want to engage.
00:16:17.066 --> 00:16:21.417
I hope you, dear listener, can apply some of the principles we've covered in this episode.
00:16:21.417 --> 00:16:28.730
Next time you start creating a piece of content, think about your audience and choose simple language to get your message across.
00:16:28.730 --> 00:16:38.174
Share your examples or questions with us via Twitter, at open underscore strategy, or email hello at openstrategypartnerscom.
00:16:38.174 --> 00:16:42.034
This was one of the editorial codes we use at OSP.
00:16:42.034 --> 00:16:44.251
We'll be sharing more of them as we go.
00:16:44.251 --> 00:16:58.556
If you'd like to learn more in the meantime, come over to openstrategypartnerscom, have a look at our writer enablement, workshops, case study offering or get in touch to talk about your strategy or product communication needs.
00:16:58.556 --> 00:17:03.791
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this podcast All the P's at OSP.
00:17:03.791 --> 00:17:06.071
Thanks to our clients who believe in us.
00:17:06.071 --> 00:17:15.115
Shout out to Patrick Gommal for our high energy maple syrup flavored theme music And to Mike Snow for additional horn arrangements.
00:17:15.115 --> 00:17:25.345
Thank you for listening and subscribing About our three themes on the podcast You'll hear from different members of the OSP team hosting episodes over time.
00:17:25.887 --> 00:17:35.838
Communicate All things communication We share how we tackle writing, editing, word choices, formats, processes and more.
00:17:35.838 --> 00:17:49.007
Connect In-depth conversations with interesting, smart people about who they are, what they do and how they approach their life and work as communicators, technologists and leaders Grow.
00:17:49.007 --> 00:17:58.635
We cover strategic approaches to understanding and expressing the value of what you do, including tools, templates and practical applications.
00:17:58.635 --> 00:18:04.557
We also feel strongly about building a mindful, positive, human first culture at work.
00:18:04.557 --> 00:18:07.032
That's bound to pop up from time to time too.
00:18:07.032 --> 00:18:14.419
This podcast is us figuring out communication, connection and growing together.
00:18:14.419 --> 00:18:19.557
Subscribe now on YouTube, apple Podcast or the podcast channel of your choice.
00:18:19.557 --> 00:18:23.815
Follow us, suggest guests and topics, ask us questions.
00:18:23.815 --> 00:18:27.973
On social media, we are at Open Underscore Strategy on Twitter.
00:18:27.973 --> 00:18:29.627
Until next time.
00:18:29.627 --> 00:18:35.207
Thanks for listening to Communicate, connect, grow, the OSP Podcast.
00:19:05.907 --> 00:19:08.093
So, yeah, I guess there's no shortcuts with simple.
00:19:08.093 --> 00:19:09.977
It is difficult, but try.
00:19:09.977 --> 00:19:15.251
Yeah, I got nothing.
00:19:15.251 --> 00:19:18.415
Give it your best shot.
00:19:21.924 --> 00:19:23.226
Keep it simple, stoney.
00:19:23.226 --> 00:19:26.268
Keep it simple Super.
00:19:26.268 --> 00:19:29.829
Keep it simple Sarah.
00:00:07.568 --> 00:00:13.736
Hi, i'm Carl from OSP and this is Communicate, connect Grow, the OSP podcast.
00:00:13.736 --> 00:00:20.425
On today's episode, we're talking about making writing easy to understand with the editorial code SIMPLE.
00:00:20.425 --> 00:00:31.542
If you want to be a more effective writer, a more transparent editor, develop clearer strategic thinking or learn from our network of expert friends and colleagues, that's what we're here for.
00:00:31.542 --> 00:00:37.192
We divide our episodes across three themes Communicate, connect and Grow.
00:00:37.192 --> 00:00:44.121
This is a Communicate episode and we're talking about using clear language with our editorial code SIMPLE.
00:00:44.121 --> 00:01:08.347
The SIMPLE editing code falls into the style and phrasing phase of the editing process and it's about being mindful of who you're writing for.
00:01:08.347 --> 00:01:14.132
In our documentation about this code, it says use SIMPLE language where possible.
00:01:14.132 --> 00:01:17.689
This is especially important for international audiences.
00:01:18.441 --> 00:01:19.968
Hi, i'm Felicity Brand.
00:01:19.968 --> 00:01:22.406
I'm a communications consultant at OSP.
00:01:22.406 --> 00:01:28.070
The SIMPLE code is about using SIMPLE language to get your message across.
00:01:28.070 --> 00:01:34.243
It's about being mindful of your audience and writing in a way that helps them reach understanding.
00:01:34.243 --> 00:01:38.950
No one will ever complain that you've made things too simple to understand.
00:01:38.950 --> 00:01:45.472
I wish that quote was from me, but that's from Anne Handley, one of her 13 writing rules.
00:01:45.472 --> 00:01:47.286
We'll put that in the show notes.
00:01:47.286 --> 00:01:53.591
The SIMPLE code falls in our accessibility category of our editing codes.
00:01:53.591 --> 00:01:58.962
It's about making sure that the writing can be understood by as broad an audience as possible.
00:01:58.962 --> 00:02:08.971
You might have heard of things like the fleshkin-cade readability test and that measures how easily written language is to understand.
00:02:08.971 --> 00:02:13.810
It looks at sentence length, word length and number of syllables.
00:02:13.810 --> 00:02:17.381
That's what this SIMPLE code is about, hi.
00:02:17.883 --> 00:02:18.645
Jeffrey McGuire.
00:02:18.645 --> 00:02:18.907
Here.
00:02:18.907 --> 00:02:22.346
Most people call me Jam because my middle initial is an A.
00:02:22.346 --> 00:02:26.805
I am a co-founder and partner at Open Strategy Partners.
00:02:26.805 --> 00:02:46.889
These helpful editing and writing codes that we're talking about came originally from people trying to decode and share my editing brain with our team, and I'm really, really pleased with the results after a few years of doing this together.
00:02:46.889 --> 00:02:59.867
The sort of writing that we do mostly at Open Strategy Partners when we're helping technical agencies, product companies, b2b technical businesses.
00:02:59.867 --> 00:03:13.991
We're helping them communicate the value of the things that they build and giving people on the outside the opportunity to try it or download it or join a community or make a purchase.
00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:23.447
One of the founding ideas about Open Strategy Partners was developers and marketers don't always know how to talk with each other.
00:03:23.447 --> 00:03:27.931
These are both communities of people that tend to use jargon.
00:03:27.931 --> 00:03:29.284
There's lots of business jargon.
00:03:29.284 --> 00:03:31.407
There's lots of certainly lots of technical jargon.
00:03:32.099 --> 00:03:45.132
It can be pretty easy to explain things to your peers in ways that make sense to you, because you do it every day And you might forget that not everybody's up to speed on your language.
00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:54.913
So I really feel it helps everyone if you make things as simple as possible and as complex as it needs Right.
00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:01.932
So there's an idea for my taste in this writing of keeping things fairly plain and fairly clear.
00:04:01.932 --> 00:04:26.341
The other side of that coin is in my life story and I am multilingual And by the time I was in graduate school in New York City, i was living in a building with 700 people from probably 100 countries around the world And I learned very, very quickly that I had to speak very clearly and choose my words very carefully.
00:04:26.341 --> 00:04:54.343
And doing that helped me make friends and have terrific experiences, and I really think there's value in being mindful about how we're communicating And in this technology world where we're helping people, i am just as glad to help my client make a sale in an English-speaking country as in a non-English-speaking country or whatever language we're working in, because we know work in multiple languages.
00:04:54.343 --> 00:05:04.331
But essentially, to make the content as accessible as possible, we should write as well as possible and we should be as simple and as clear as we possibly can.
00:05:04.752 --> 00:05:21.689
I am Christine Bueller and I work for Open Strategy Partners as a communications consultant, where I work on blog posts, newsletters, emails, case studies all sorts of communications materials.
00:05:21.689 --> 00:05:28.101
So simple is about comprehension and clarity.
00:05:28.101 --> 00:05:49.247
It just means using simple language where it's possible to do so, which is especially important for international audiences, of which, i would probably argue, most businesses have an international audience nowadays, so important.
00:05:49.728 --> 00:05:50.990
Hi, my name is Chris.
00:05:50.990 --> 00:05:53.675
I work at OSB as a copyright editor.
00:05:53.675 --> 00:05:59.860
I think simple is as it says is very simple Don't use too complicated language.
00:05:59.860 --> 00:06:02.550
I mean, i think there's a couple of ways you can interpret that.
00:06:02.550 --> 00:06:08.009
I think on the one hand it can be vocabulary choice and the other it can be sentence structure.
00:06:08.009 --> 00:06:16.814
If your sentences are getting too long and unwieldy and difficult to follow, you can simplify them and chop them up into three separate sentences.
00:06:16.814 --> 00:06:26.228
That would be one way of simplifying and the other would be not using too much technical domain specific vocabulary if the piece is for a general audience.
00:06:28.473 --> 00:06:31.858
Let's explore how this code is used in the editing process.
00:06:32.305 --> 00:06:55.250
As an editor, when we're looking at the simple code, we're advocating for the reader, So we're thinking about all the folks out there who may be coming to this writing And remember this code is in our accessibility category, So we're being mindful of translation, a global audience, language crossing not only borders but levels of knowledge.
00:06:55.250 --> 00:07:12.916
In practical terms, this might mean avoiding jargon, spelling out acronyms, explaining technical concepts when needed, software or hardware concepts, swapping out cultural or geographically specific words.
00:07:12.916 --> 00:07:21.139
writing about tech, which is what we do a lot at OSP, can get pretty dense, pretty technical, pretty involved.
00:07:21.139 --> 00:07:31.088
So this code is about helping bring technical information to as many readers as possible by helping them understand by using simple language.
00:07:31.610 --> 00:07:32.190
As an editor.
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We have the chance to help each other at Open Strategy Partners.
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Just about everybody who writes also edits and anyone who edits also writes.
00:07:41.461 --> 00:07:43.088
So we have the chance to help each other.
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And a second and third pair of eyes always improves our communications And, honestly, if something is a jumble or I have to read it two and a half times to get my head around it, that's a giant signal for me to stop and figure out what's going on, If it's not an error or some other problem.
00:08:03.692 --> 00:08:08.944
I often end up finding a way to clarify things and make them simpler.
00:08:08.944 --> 00:08:21.024
Maybe make one longer sentence into two, maybe make a list of items into a bulleted list in the formatting, and open things up and keep things moving, keep things consumable.
00:08:22.548 --> 00:08:23.490
As an editor.
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Simple is helpful because I mean, for one thing, you don't want to be pausing to look up words all the time if you're editing something, even though you know if you are an editor, you probably have a pretty big vocabulary Not true for everyone.
00:08:41.298 --> 00:08:48.293
It's also just a kindness to your fellow editors At OSP.
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We definitely have writers and editors from all over the world, keeping in mind that you may have an international team of editors as well as an international audience, and you just want to make it easier for your fellow editors to read your work.
00:09:09.650 --> 00:09:12.643
I think as an editor, there's always kind of two ways you use the codes.
00:09:12.643 --> 00:09:29.897
There's like the positive reinforcement way, where if you see somebody has done something particularly elegantly in this case they've provided a particularly nice explanation of some technical concept then you would sort of say you would give them the code with a plus sign to indicate that they've done a good job there.
00:09:29.897 --> 00:09:53.020
The other way to use it is obviously where somebody needs to correct something, and in that case I think it would be the case that you know if they're trying to explain some some bit of technology, like how blockchain works or whatever, whatever it might be or how some form of encryption works, if they are doing it in a manner that is still a bit too technical, you might have to use the code to tell me to break it down.
00:09:55.264 --> 00:09:55.905
When writing.
00:09:55.986 --> 00:10:04.120
There are many different ways you can approach this code when it comes to the code simple, it can be a little bit counterintuitive.
00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:08.509
I think it's harder than you might think to write simply.
00:10:08.509 --> 00:10:19.142
It's a real skill to distill something down to its bare essentials, and you really need to understand the subject matter you're writing about to be able to do it.
00:10:19.142 --> 00:10:22.067
You can't get hand wavy if you're.
00:10:22.067 --> 00:10:35.513
If you're trying to write simply, you really need to be able to understand a thing so that you can craft your message Using simple words to best explain your point.
00:10:36.274 --> 00:10:38.697
The biggest influence here is going to be your audience.
00:10:38.697 --> 00:10:43.868
When you know who you're writing for, that will help you pitch your writing at the best level.
00:10:43.868 --> 00:10:45.710
So what am I trying to say?
00:10:45.710 --> 00:10:47.432
it's hard to write simply.
00:10:47.432 --> 00:11:07.937
Do your best, i would say, probably throw more words at it than you might need to, and on a second or third pass, try to whittle it down, tighten it up, being mindful of your audience, to kind of remove words that may muddy the message, and a friendly editor is also going to help you keep your writing simple.
00:11:07.937 --> 00:11:10.780
So, yeah, i guess there's no shortcuts with simple.
00:11:11.345 --> 00:11:30.913
If I've been spending a lot of time with educated native English speakers, if I've been going to cultural events, if I've been reading a lot of a certain kind of book, my fingers want to produce all sorts of wonderful and interesting and obscure words that are fun to know and fun to use.
00:11:30.913 --> 00:11:40.812
That is not the right thing to do in my professional context, which is to help people explain What the value of their, of their products and services are.
00:11:40.812 --> 00:11:45.248
So I need to remember to Wake my inner Hemingway.
00:11:45.248 --> 00:12:04.885
I am not claiming to have anything like that quality, but the idea of simple, strong Words certainly is important in how we work at OSP and we have some other codes that talk about using active verbs and they're all around getting things kind of chunky and good, yeah.
00:12:05.125 --> 00:12:10.033
As a writer, i'm making an effort to be cognizant of simple.
00:12:10.033 --> 00:12:11.995
That's probably a word I wouldn't use.
00:12:11.995 --> 00:12:28.961
There's a good example If I was writing this, because, for one thing, if you are writing to a technical audience, some words might just might not always translate.
00:12:28.961 --> 00:12:40.559
I think the main goal of any writer is to be understood, and so you don't want to be getting in your own way by using overly complicated words.
00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:47.994
Someone might not know what, for million, is which is a shade of red, but I'm sure they know red.
00:12:47.994 --> 00:12:52.660
So it's just part of being inclusive while you're writing.
00:12:53.085 --> 00:12:58.691
I don't think this is one of the things that is at the front of the minds when writing.
00:12:58.691 --> 00:13:06.139
I think it's more something that you adapt to and you kind of learn over the years of doing the job.
00:13:06.139 --> 00:13:21.660
At certain times it's appropriate to Simplify things and try to make things like really obvious for a general audience, but it's more of a thing that I think you intuitively learn as a writer and then you would maybe apply it more reflectively as an editor.
00:13:23.946 --> 00:13:26.451
Why is this editing code important to readers?
00:13:26.451 --> 00:13:27.775
how do they benefit from it?
00:13:28.586 --> 00:13:31.128
As a reader, don't make me feel stupid.
00:13:31.128 --> 00:13:35.673
Simple is about helping me understand, but don't talk down to me.
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It's a fine line.
00:13:37.335 --> 00:13:44.241
I'm reading an article because I'm interested and motivated to know what it has to say, so I'm seeking understanding.
00:13:44.241 --> 00:13:49.134
Help me achieve that by taking care of me by using simple language.
00:13:49.134 --> 00:13:51.038
Don't assume my knowledge.
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As a reader, i'm more likely to act on a CTA, a call to action, when I feel respected, and so I'm going to feel respected when the writing is simple to understand but it's not making me feel stupid.
00:14:08.019 --> 00:14:15.787
So we've done our work right and we've channeled the knowledge and expertise of our clients into content.
00:14:15.787 --> 00:14:24.870
I am hoping that people who could benefit from knowing about it are going to have the easiest time possible to find it and to consume it.
00:14:24.870 --> 00:14:35.931
So in other podcast episodes we talk about structuring into production, helping people decide whether to read things or not, but once they actually make that decision we've all got very limited time in our day.
00:14:35.931 --> 00:14:38.206
We've all got so many things going on at any time.
00:14:38.206 --> 00:14:50.587
I want you to be able to read what we've done, understand it and make a decision to read more, make a decision to make a purchase, make a decision to go on and look at the next thing as smoothly as you can.
00:14:50.587 --> 00:14:58.388
So that's the experience that I'm hoping that readers and consumers get when we're doing our job, like we say we want to at OSP.
00:14:59.139 --> 00:15:19.826
So, as a reader, simple is important because if I'm reading very long, complex jargony words then, depending what those words are, I might not feel like this paper is intended for me to read.
00:15:19.826 --> 00:15:31.830
If you're not using simple language, it kind of kicks more people out of the audience category more quickly, which is usually not what you want.
00:15:32.259 --> 00:15:37.744
I think for a reader I mean again, the reader is not necessarily conscious of what's going on when they're reading the piece.
00:15:37.744 --> 00:15:39.710
it's more about the effect that it has on them.
00:15:39.710 --> 00:15:46.205
So if sentence is getting too long and unwieldy, then they'll just get lost and then they might jump to another piece.
00:15:46.205 --> 00:16:00.774
And likewise, if you're trying to give some sort of explanation and then it sounds more like it's angel developers than a general audience, then they might also just stop reading and close the tab and then you've fail to engage the people you want to engage.
00:16:17.066 --> 00:16:21.417
I hope you, dear listener, can apply some of the principles we've covered in this episode.
00:16:21.417 --> 00:16:28.730
Next time you start creating a piece of content, think about your audience and choose simple language to get your message across.
00:16:28.730 --> 00:16:38.174
Share your examples or questions with us via Twitter, at open underscore strategy, or email hello at openstrategypartnerscom.
00:16:38.174 --> 00:16:42.034
This was one of the editorial codes we use at OSP.
00:16:42.034 --> 00:16:44.251
We'll be sharing more of them as we go.
00:16:44.251 --> 00:16:58.556
If you'd like to learn more in the meantime, come over to openstrategypartnerscom, have a look at our writer enablement, workshops, case study offering or get in touch to talk about your strategy or product communication needs.
00:16:58.556 --> 00:17:03.791
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this podcast All the P's at OSP.
00:17:03.791 --> 00:17:06.071
Thanks to our clients who believe in us.
00:17:06.071 --> 00:17:15.115
Shout out to Patrick Gommal for our high energy maple syrup flavored theme music And to Mike Snow for additional horn arrangements.
00:17:15.115 --> 00:17:25.345
Thank you for listening and subscribing About our three themes on the podcast You'll hear from different members of the OSP team hosting episodes over time.
00:17:25.887 --> 00:17:35.838
Communicate All things communication We share how we tackle writing, editing, word choices, formats, processes and more.
00:17:35.838 --> 00:17:49.007
Connect In-depth conversations with interesting, smart people about who they are, what they do and how they approach their life and work as communicators, technologists and leaders Grow.
00:17:49.007 --> 00:17:58.635
We cover strategic approaches to understanding and expressing the value of what you do, including tools, templates and practical applications.
00:17:58.635 --> 00:18:04.557
We also feel strongly about building a mindful, positive, human first culture at work.
00:18:04.557 --> 00:18:07.032
That's bound to pop up from time to time too.
00:18:07.032 --> 00:18:14.419
This podcast is us figuring out communication, connection and growing together.
00:18:14.419 --> 00:18:19.557
Subscribe now on YouTube, apple Podcast or the podcast channel of your choice.
00:18:19.557 --> 00:18:23.815
Follow us, suggest guests and topics, ask us questions.
00:18:23.815 --> 00:18:27.973
On social media, we are at Open Underscore Strategy on Twitter.
00:18:27.973 --> 00:18:29.627
Until next time.
00:18:29.627 --> 00:18:35.207
Thanks for listening to Communicate, connect, grow, the OSP Podcast.
00:19:05.907 --> 00:19:08.093
So, yeah, I guess there's no shortcuts with simple.
00:19:08.093 --> 00:19:09.977
It is difficult, but try.
00:19:09.977 --> 00:19:15.251
Yeah, I got nothing.
00:19:15.251 --> 00:19:18.415
Give it your best shot.
00:19:21.924 --> 00:19:23.226
Keep it simple, stoney.
00:19:23.226 --> 00:19:26.268
Keep it simple Super.
00:19:26.268 --> 00:19:29.829
Keep it simple Sarah.
