Anatomy of a plain language editor

Plain language editors have a special role in the world of communications. It is their job to make sure that all the important things an organization says can actually be understood by the target audience. More than just understood, they must be easily, even effortlessly understood - without dumbing down the text.

Plain language editors focus first on clarity, keeping in mind the target audience. They consider the education level and the familiarity with the topic. The choose words that will be most easily understood, and whenever possible, the simplest words available.

Among the tools at their disposal, plain language editors rely on short words, sentences and paragraphs, simple sentence structure, bullet lists, the active voice and addressing the audience directly.

Plain language editors also use readability tools to measure the grade level of their texts. They typically aim for grade 8 or lower. When a text must contain a lot of huge technical words, they might allow a higher grade level, but they become extra vigilant in choosing simple words to connect the technical terms.