Common Craft Blog
Study: Americans Overwhelmingly Demand Simple Communications
By leelefever on January 14, 2009 - 10:11am
Siegel+Gale recently completed a year long study of 1,214 American
homeowners and investors that shows huge demand for simple, plain
English communications. A few interesting quotes:
Fully 84% of all consumers say they are more likely to trust a company
that uses jargon-free, plain English in communications. And 79% say
they think it is “very important” that President Obama “mandate that
clarity, transparency, and plain English be a requirement of every new
law, regulation and policy.”
Three-quarters of survey respondents (75%) say that complexity and lack
of understanding have played a significant role in the current
financial crisis. Moreover, 63% of those surveyed feel that “banks,
mortgage lenders and Wall Street intentionally make things complicated
to hide risks or to keep people in the dark.”
The survey asked how much of an impact jargon-free, plain-English
explanations and disclosures would make on consumer interest in a
number of categories. Consumers reported:
a 79% increased interest in investing in a financial product,
a 73% increased interest in selecting a broker or a financial advisor,
a 67% increased interest in purchasing a life insurance policy,
a 63% increased interest in taking out a loan, and
a 63% increased interest in applying for a credit card.
I doubt this comes as a big surprise. I think we as a population have become desensitized to government, legal and financial jargon to a point where we assume it's the only option. We muddle through it, hire people to translate it and hope for the best. It's a sad state of affairs and one that can change. We have to demand it. We have to show that it's wasteful and counter-productive.
The hardest part is admitting that we don't know or that we're confused. When we're sitting in that office, we want to show that we're smart and on the ball. When the jargon starts flying, it's too easy to nod and say "ok." I do it too. If we're serious about changing this kind of communication, we have to be ready to say "I don't get it" and "I need you to help me understand using simple language." It's nothing to be embarrassed about - as customer, we have the right to demand clarity. In the end, it's the businesses and organizations that can provide this clarity that will have a better chance of finding success in the future.
Bank Services
I agree. We have to demand clear explanations. And it's actually quite easy to do when you're shopping around for bank services and you don't have a preferred bank. Just say stand up, as if you're leaving, and say something like:
"If you don't want to talk to me in plain English I'll go look for my {credit / loan / investment portfolio} somewhere else".
Not just that we don't ask.
It's quite good advise to tell people to make sure they understand each and every line of a contract before signing it, but just asking for clarification is not enough: sometimes the person you are asking does not know the answer.
I have the experience myself of going into a bank in the UK to sort out some papers and, as they do, have the clerk try to sell me some investment plan. I found myself in the weird position of knowing more than that guy about the product, and there were still some things I was not clear about!
My point is: everything is being commercialised to the masses, but there is not a mass of experts to guide you through the nitty gritty. You will find more and more often that the seller is clueless and that's just part of the deal.
Well Put
I think that's exactly the issue. The institutions have convinced us that all this jargon is necessary in order to ensure that everyone is protected legally, and there is some good reason for that. But the level this is at now is absurd. Thanks for helping take the stand against obfuscation!
Legally defensible copy
I, uh, spend most of my day writing this stuff. I apologize in advance. A lot of it is driven by corporate counsel. That's how you end up with "X-Product can help you to make your day progress more efficiently and effectively..." instead of "X-Product makes life better," because you could use the product for some unintended purpose. It's a world of passive rather than active voice. And it's killing me. Strike that...and it may help to cause me injury. Chip and Dan Heath do an excellent job of explaining exactly how this kind of thing occurs in Made to Stick. They call it their "Curse of Knowledge" which is to say when a person has more familiarity with a subject, they speak in abstractions, rather than in tangible, concrete terms.
(Of course any description or similarity with a real or imagined X-Product is completely coincidental. The opinions in this comment are solely the writer's and do not reflect the views of X-Product or Common Craft now or in the future.)
Litigation and Made to Stick
Oh, good point Osborne. I almost mentioned The Curse of Knowledge, but figured I would wait for another post - it's spot-on. The threat of litigation is a big motivator of jargon and it's a shame. It seems that having a bullet-proof contract sometimes means that the contract can only be read by lawyers.
Plain English Campaign
Some communications I receive from my UK bank carry this "crystal mark" logo, which means the text was approved by the "plain english campaign." I was surprised to see that this effort has been going on in the UK since 1979: http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/about.htm
PS...
They have some wonderful before-and-after examples here: http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/beforeandafter.htm
Awesome
Thanks so much for pointing out those examples and the campaign Nigel. We should get in touch with Chrissie.
Plain English is not sufficient
Plain English is good, but it is not sufficient to ensure clear communication, as the following examples show.
Both of the following sentences are grammatically correct. The second sentence contains the optional words 'that is', which help to make the sentence clear. These optional words ('syntactic cues') are specially useful to people who do not read English as a first language.
* The machine on the left is broken.
* The machine that is on the left is broken.
Sometimes, a word has more than one meaning. For the clearest communication, use a word with its primary meaning. For example, the primary meaning of the word 'follow' is 'to come after'. Do not use the word 'follow' to mean 'obey'.
To make sure that text is clear, you must conform to more than only plain English guidelines. The best guidelines that I have seen for writing clear source text are in 'The Global English style guide: writing clear, translatable documentation for a global market' by John R Kohl, 2008 (ISBN 978-1-59994-657-3). For a review of the book, see http://www.techscribe.co.uk/ta/global-english-style-guide.htm. (Although the book's title contains the word 'documentation', the guidelines apply to most business texts.)
simple is not easy
I spent years of college learning to write long, complicated sentences with lots of jargon. I have spent most of my career trying to write more directly. "Plain English" is much harder to write! As this study points out, though, it is worth it.
to convey
sounds logical is it? because if you can't convey the information or instruction you want by using jargon, how can they execute the task.
Siegel+Gale Simplicity Survey
I am the head of Siegel+Gale's Simplification practice, based in NYC. We are the pioneers of simplified communications and the plain English movement in business communications (for almost 40 years). We fielded the research survey you cite here. We've dedicated our careers to simplifying the complex and trying to cut through the jargon, legalese and obfuscation. Often times, it's the "tyranny of the lawyers" - when product managers, marketing folks and business owners forget that a legal staff's role is to point out risks and recommend strategies to avoid liabilities - not to write copy or design consumer interfaces. This recent survey points out that transparency and authenticity are the new marketing imperatives coming out of the economic crisis...that consumers are fed up with the complexity and desperate for brands that offer simple, honest communications they can understand. The most interesting finding of all is that more than ever, consumers are equating transparency with trust and hopefully will vote with their (shrinking) wallets. If you're interested in learning more about what we do, visit our site at www.siegelgale.com or email me at lrafkin@siegelgale.com.
Anyone remember Gowers' book, The Complete Plain Words
Seems like nothing changes.
Sir Ernest Gowers' book, The Complete Plain Words, was first published in 1954. Its origins lie in an effort by the British Treasury to improve official communications in English.
I keep a copy close at hand and dip into it frequently, both for advice and for the sheer pleasure of reading it's wonderful prose.
What people say and what they do are two different things.
People always *say* they want clearer communications.
However I've written many proposals for software systems and, in my experience, there are some people who seem to think that if they can easily understand the proposal, then it mustn't be very good. They want systems to have some mystery to them, that will magically solve their problems.
I am absolutely in favour of clear communications. But it would be nice if there was a behavioural study to show that people really do respond better to clarity with their actions, rather than just a survey.
Cut the Guff
Wholeheartedly agree.
In fact I've started up a FREE e-zine called "Cut the Guff" where I write about how to eliminate meaningless waffle from business life.
It does include links to the Plain English Campaign but is independent.
For more info and to sign up, please visit my blog http://askm-videos.blogspot.com
M
Great Point
I work in the medical field and we strive to strip out medical jargon when speaking with patients so they can better understand and make more informed decisions. While some are better than others at doing this, there is a concerted effort made by the medical community. This same effort needs to be implemented in the financial industry.
Time will tell
That will be the day when government policies are actually clear. I think he should start with US tax code. Having clear rules and regs can only be beneficial to everyone.
Well, I agree with it
Well, I agree with it all--but this creates a real slippery slope...indeed. If a consumer doesn't understand something and they sign it--should they be responsible for what they just committed themselves to? Sure they should.
U