Questions to ask yourself before you get started

Who is my audience?

  • What is their literacy level?
  • Is English their first language?
  • How much do they know about my topic?

Why am I writing this document?

  • to instruct (for example, give step-by-step directions)
  • to persuade (for example, to change current behaviour)
  • to inform (for example, to tell them about a new policy, procedure, or service)

What do I need to say?

  • What is essential?
  • What is nice to know, but not actually necessary in this document?

How should I organize the information?

Depending on your audience’s needs and your purpose …

  • you can decide what is most important and put that at the beginning
  • you can use chronological order (for example, step-by- step instructions)

How should I present my information?

  • Does it need pictures or diagrams?
  • Should it be large print?
  • Does it need to be translated?
  • Will it be mostly digital, or should there be a print option available?
  • If there will be a print option, should it be a flat sheet, a pamphlet, or a booklet?

See Appendix A: Planning Guide in the back matter of this textbook.

License

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Plain Language and Design for Post-Secondary Copyright © 2023 by debnielsen and worfolkm is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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