Wishing You All Success in 2008

Success


To laugh often and much;

to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.



This is to have succeeded.



Ralph Waldo Emerson

A few useful posts from 2007

Writing to Control Center Stage

Control the actors and the story by controlling the point of view…

Don't assume common knowledge

Some people face their biggest problem with communication when sharing new information with people they know well…

Diversity in Communication vs Universality

For a framework…, there is a movement called Universal Design… Universal design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design…

Civility

We (plain language advocates) always advise that you avoid negative sentence constructions and seek the positive form of your message...

Another Myth Exposed

… misinterpretation of the results of a communication study which has taken on mythic proportions--being taught in university communication courses.

You know, it is the one that says that the "meaning of communication is derived 7% from the words spoken, 38% from the tonality, and 55% from body language"--turns out that only applies to ambigous communication.

When the plain language of the message leaves no doubts, meaning need not be found in the external clues.

I Remember You; Oh, Excuse Me.

Negative sentence constructions are difficult for people to process…

The Rule to Follow Even If It does Not Apply!

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Rule 13a-19 -- Plain English Presentation of Specified Information

Word of the Day Archive

… A word that can be used, depending on the circumstance, to mean both of two opposite concepts.

How to make sense of nonsense

… I show you my process:

Now, Be Civil

How to make sense of nonsense

First, this from Texas:

Say What?!

A weblog of classic legal humor from U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchme

July 2004 - The Winner: Most Confusing Document Title

Paul J. Van Osselaer of Austin (Van Osselaer, Cronin & Buchanan) and Robert Slovak of Dallas (Gardere Wynne Sewell) — who are opposing counsel in a case on my docket — jointly submitted the following:

“Paul Van Osselaer of Austin … was hoping that the alternative relief would be granted just to figure out what is going on. He submitted this entry as a potential winner as the most confusing document title, deleting the actual names of the parties to protect the guilty. It’s from a filing in the U.S. District Court in San Antonio:

“DEFENDANT’S REPLY TO PLAINTIFF’S RESPONSE TO DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO STRIKE PLAINTIFF’S REPLY TO DEFENDANT’S OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER, OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, APPLICATION FOR HEARING.”

Now, my approach to making sense of stuff like this when I convert legalese to plain language...

It has to be legible, so I convert to "title" capitalization:

“Defendant’s Reply To Plaintiff’s Response To Defendant’s Motion To Strike Plaintiff’s Reply To Defendant’s Opposition To Plaintiff’s Motion For Protective Order, Or, In The Alternative, Application For Hearing.”

Then I break it up into its components:

Defendant’s Reply To
Plaintiff’s Response To
Defendant’s Motion To Strike
Plaintiff’s Reply To
Defendant’s Opposition
To Plaintiff’s Motion
For Protective Order,
Or, In The Alternative,
Application For Hearing

This usually helps a lot, but not here!

This is when you need to know the local procedural rules to decide how far you can go in simplifying this title, or the actual request being made.

Here is a stab in the dark:

Application For Hearing
on Plaintiff’s Motion
For Protective Order

Beware the AutoAntonym

Today's post is inspired by a recent Word of the Day from dictionary.com

Word of the Day Archive
Wednesday December 19, 2007

discursive \dis-KUR-siv\, adjective:
1. Passing from one topic to another; ranging over a wide field; digressive; rambling.
2. Utilizing, marked by, or based on analytical reasoning -- contrasted with intuitive.

Discursive comes from Latin discurrere, "to run in different directions, to run about, to run to and fro," from dis-, "apart, in different directions" + currere, "to run."

Wikipedia

A word that can be used, depending on the circumstance, to mean both of two opposite concepts.

• Auto-antonyms are the same words that can mean the opposite of themselves under different contexts or having separate definitions
  • enjoin (to prohibit, issue injunction; to order, command)
  • fast (moving quickly; fixed firmly in place)
  • cleave (to split; to adhere)
  • sanction (punishment, prohibition ; permission)
  • stay (remain in a specific place, postpone; guide direction, movement)

Sanctions are frequently called for on the politcial stage and in the law. Sanction is one of those duplicitous words-- it can can mean both reward and punishment.

This is a type of word to avoid. You cannot count on you reader giving the same interpretation to the circumstances that you do. So you cannot be sure your meaning will be understood. Far better to choose a simpler word.

Remember you have readers, not just viewers

I wan to share this report form the Publicity Hound:

Thanks to Publicity Hound Meryl K. Evans for reminding us not to use YouTube or podcasting as a replacement for any written content we currently provide.

"If you do, you could neglect a small but important audience-- those with disabilities. The deaf, like me, can't follow the video unless it's obvious from visuals. The blind miss out on visual cues."

She said [a] reporter in Dallas, includes a link to his video in every newsletter, "but thankfully he continues to provide content in the same newsletter."

The number of people with disabilities has grown, especially with Baby Boomers losing hearing and eye sight as a result of getting older...

Reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," an ezine featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity. Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email the handy list "89 Reasons to Send a News Release."

Why I drive some people crazy--a diversity post

Left Brain	Right Brain
45%	55%

This was my score on the test for dominance of the left or right brain.

You are more right-brained than left-brained.

You are able to visualize the "whole" picture first, and then work backwards to put the pieces together to create the "whole" picture. Your thought process can appear quite illogical and meandering. The problem-solving techniques that you use involve free association, which is often very innovative and creative. The routes taken to arrive at your conclusions are completely opposite to what a left-brained person would be accustomed. ..

Random processing is a method used by the right hemisphere for processing information. The information that is received is processed without priority. A right-brained person will usually jump from one task to another due to the random processing by their dominant right hemisphere. Random processing is, of course, the opposite of sequential processing...

Plain Thoughts

“Don’t have too complicated a mind,” he said. “Think in ten-word sentences.”

--philosophy of the guy who writes the fortunes in most Chinese fortune cookies.

Read Cookie Master in the New Yorker