Grad uses plain language to make city audits accessible
Kristen Clark has plenty of practice trying to make sense of head-scratching paragraphs.
A former journalist, Kristen works as a communications specialist in the Auditor鈥檚 Office of the City and County of Denver, Colorado, where she copyedits, proofreads and designs monthly audit reports. Recognizing report drafts were often full of jargon and needed clarity, she turned to SFU鈥檚 Plain Language Certificate program for direction.
鈥淎uditing can be very technical,鈥� she explains. 鈥淲e want our reports to be accessible to our community, so we want to avoid a technical term we don鈥檛 need to use. Or how might we say it differently in terms people can understand?鈥�
After doing some independent research and reading on plain language, she landed on SFU鈥檚 program, which had been recommended by several plain language experts.
Kristen says undertaking the final project in the program was invaluable, even if it intimidated her at first. For her project, she worked with the Association of Local Government Auditors, helping the organization use plain language to clearly communicate upcoming initiatives to its members in Canada and the U.S.
Through the project, Kristen was able to bring back ideas to her own role at the City and County of Denver. She continues to use plain language to help her colleagues rethink how they talk about city programs.
As one example, Kristen noted a recent audit report informing residents about upcoming changes to trash pickup, which the city referred to using its internal terminology: 鈥渟olid waste management.鈥�
鈥淭hose more relatable terms like 鈥榯rash pickup鈥� increase the impact that our reports can have with our community because people realize, 鈥楾his matters to me, and I see why this matters to me because they鈥檙e speaking my language,鈥欌�� Kristen explains.
The Auditor鈥檚 Office鈥檚 communications team now integrates plain language concepts into their whole strategy: from the words they use, to the way they lay out a page, to the graphics they choose.
The credibility of SFU鈥檚 program also helped back up the plain language training Kristen offers to other staff members.
鈥淎uditors rely on facts and evidence to form their conclusions, so they鈥檙e very technically minded,鈥� she notes. 鈥淓ven in the training they receive, they want to know that it鈥檚 coming from proven and supported sources."
鈥淪o, being able to use the skills I learned in this program and show them, 鈥榯his is where I learned it from,鈥� they鈥檝e been more welcoming of this approach to communications.鈥�
Her biggest takeaway from the program? There is no right way to communicate in plain language.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just wave a wand and have plain language,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t really is a thought process that鈥檚 specific to what you鈥檙e communicating. It鈥檚 a valuable skill to have, and you don鈥檛 realize how valuable it is until you learn it.鈥�
By Bernice Puzon