Cheryl Stephens, Mentor/Muse

Professional Development

Using Plain Language Process in Oral Presentations

Oral/Aural Plain Language

Plain language in oral discourse encompasses many of the plain language principles used in written communication, with added emphasis on the importance of considering your audience. Additional concerns with how people listen and process information as well as techniques you can employ to ensure the message you intend to communicate is the one being communicated round out the considerations for oral plain language. The information below was developed for tape-recorded messages. Adapt the suggestions here for improving your next oral presentation.

Communicating orally is done for a variety of purposes and audiences. For this paper we will examine oral plain language as it applies to oral information scripts and voice mail structure and design.

Oral Information Scripts

Pattern and Process

When designing your information scripts, give consideration to the needs of the audience. Consider who will be the listeners and then think about:

• Who is most likely to call for this information?
  Will the caller most likely be a man or a woman? Are they professionals? Will the callers be adult or juvenile? These considerations are not to show bias but to allow you to consider any needs that may be unique to your audience.
• What are their circumstances when they call?
  Will the callers be in emotional turmoil when they call? Will they be calling from their home or office. What type of distractions will be competing with your message? The answers to these questions will allow you to factor in pauses and instructions as necessary to minimize distractions. Active listening requires energy and concentration. If your callers were not guaranteed to be alert and focused, make it easy for them.
• What background information will they have?
  Will all your callers have the same background information when they call? If they do not, how will you layer the information to ensure everyone gets what they need to access and use your information?
• What knowledge do they have of the process?
  Have your callers accessed a system like this before? Do they need operating instructions incorporated into the information you provide. Will they know what a "pound key" is?
• What language skills might they have?
  Different levels of language fluency will impact on the words you choose and how detailed the information you provide.
• What are the most common questions on this topic?
  if you are setting up an information system because of an abundance of calls for the same information, list the most common questions and answers.
• What are their most urgent questions?
  People listen to information that is of most immediate relevance and tend to block out the extra information until the immediate need is satisfied. Consider what these urgent needs will be.
• How will listeners use this information?
  If the listener is going to use the information as a reference that have it checked for legal accuracy as well as mention all your sources in text. If the information will be used for instruction, research and follow the e guidelines for how instructions are followed and how many pieces of information can be followed at any one time.

With the ideas you gather from considering these matters, you will be able to focus your general thoughts on the topic. You should then be able to write from the perspective of the listener rather than that of the expert. If you find it difficult to put yourself in the place of the anonymous listener, imagine that your listener is someone you know and are fond of - your mother, sister, friend or neighbor, whoever fits the demographics of your audience. From the perspective to the listener, you ask and answer questions of the expert (yourself).

Once you have written your information scripts, identify some sample listeners and check with them to make sure you are providing the information they need in a way they can understand. This is often called focus group testing and it should be incorporated at the beginning of any project like this to ensure you are reaching your audience,. Waiting to test later may cost you more money and credibility.

Focus the information

Oral information scripts should be about 800 - 1,000 words in length (2 pages, single-spaced). Statistics from B.C. and Ontario Dial-A-Law have shown that listeners will only pay attention for about five minutes. People can only absorb a limited amount of information from each script. Divide a topic into two or more scripts rather than put in information that will not be heard.

Prioritize a list of the most common, most urgent, and most significant questions that people usually have on the subject.

Limit the major points in each script to fewer than seven. When elaborating minor points on a major topic, keep the number of points to fewer than five.

Be sure that all the information in your script is complete, accurate, and necessary. Try following these rules:

5/7/9 rule: Keep lists of items short. The average person can cope with five items at most. A few more can grasp seven items at a time and a few genuiuses can work with 9 items.

7 second rule: Don't make people wait through more than seven seconds of dead air.

25 word rule: Keep your sentences under 25 words when you are writing your speech. Then cut them down as much as you can.

Write a draft

After you have considered the points you wish to cover and the structure of how you are going to convey the information, write the first draft of your script. The general pattern is: Statement-Example-Restatement. Or: Tell them what you are going to tell them. Tell them. Tell them what you told them.

Here is an outline for your draft:

• Introduction:
  Describe the purpose and your authority.
• Brief overview:
  Survey the script as a table of contents - for example, identify the questions you will answer. Describe the purpose and your authority.
• Definition of terms:
  AtDescribe the purpose and your authority.
• Most important question:
  Describe the purpose and your authority.
• Next most important question
  No more than 6 other major points.
  Describe the purpose and your authority.
• Least important issue
  Consider again, is it really necessary?
  Describe the purpose and your authority.
• Overall summary review
  Review and highlight your key points again. try to use the same words. Repetition aids retention.
• Referrals
  Even if you have already given them, this is the place to repeat phone numbers, addresses, etc. Include any calls to action in this section as well. End by telling the listener that the information is finished and what they must do to conclude the call Describe the purpose and your authority.

Guidelines for writing

• Have you chosen appropriate vocabulary? Have you made you point clearly and succinctly? Are there any words with similar sounds and different meanings that will be confusing? Are you using different words for the same meanings unnecessarily? Avoid acronyms or define them early on..
• Keep the sentences short: an average of 15 words. Try to write simple sentences, subject-verb-object. Don't rely on commas (thus, verbal pauses) to show information structure. Listeners cannot see colons and semi-colons - divide the sentence and rewrite.
• Try to use the active voice but don't torture the language to do it.
• Avoid using too many pronouns, listeners get lost trying to keep track of who you mean . Avoid putting distance between the referent and the original noun or verb. If the referent is not in the same sentence as the noun, restate the original noun or verb.
• Avoid third person constructions. Use personal pronouns and personal sentences to peak directly to the listener. Listeners pay closer attention if they think you are speaking about their situation. ( "You are ......")
• Beware of negative prefixes that get lost in the process of speech or hearing: illegitimate, impossible, unlikely and so on. This is a particularly important consideration if your listeners have English as a second language.
• Show the relationship between ideas or the special conditions that apply. Provide and follow signals in your writing. "There are two different ways you can prove..." "You must either produce a... or a..." "But that's just one way to....Another way is..."
• Use audible subheadings to cue the listener that you are making a change of direction. These do not have to be complete sentences. Use signal words: "Now we'll turn to..." "Enough about..., you need to know..." "Next...."
• Give other cues. "Here are the three ways to...." "The telephone number to call is...." "I'll come back to this later, but the important thing to know about it for now is...."
• Use frequent summaries (not just a final, overall summary). summarize briefly at the end of each major point. "So, then, the most important things to remember about (topic) are...."
• Don't use alphabetized lists that are hard to visualize. Don't use long lists with introductory words that are forgotten in the middle of the list.
• Don't set up fact patterns or personal examples. People tune out the information unless the facts match their own circumstances. They refuse to extrapolate. Don't use examples unless they will apply to at least 85% of your listeners. Determine the universality of examples you wish to use by asking your audience.

Revision

Now review your draft. The information will be delivered orally. Is the language conversational? It's ok to use sentence fragments or to repeat yourself- you are writing to be listened to. How does it sound when you read it aloud to yourself?

Imagine explaining this topic to your 12 year old niece , to your elderly grandfather, or to a busy professional, (they will probably be so impatient and only give you five minutes! think about where you hear them saying "Yes, but...")

Useability testing

Once your oral information script is reordered and available for callers - call it. Is it the same as your last draft? Try all the options , do they work as they are supposed to?

Arrange for a professional useability test of your script with a sampling of your typical users. Find out if it is meeting their needs. do this now, and repeat it at appropriate intervals to ensure your message remains current and you continue to address the needs of your listeners.

Voice Mail Jail

When designing audio trunking systems and voice mail systems , plain language techniques are vital. The companies that design automated communications systems are now consulting social scientists as well as engineers . These systems have become a way of life and a vital business tool for many organizations. And yet with all the social scientists and engineers on the job, voice mail continues to be a prime complaint in all the public access "gripe" arenas as well as just generally y frustrating to many of us. Plain language techniques can make this business staple more tolerable .

Some systems work well: the Canada Business Service Centres offer an information fax back service where you call an automated line and request information faxed back to you. Lo and behold, within moments of calling, the requested information is faxed back to you. I have always received the information I request, but despite several tries and an above average intelligence, I have yet to get it to print the correct name of my company. ( You enter the alphabet using a numeric keypad - and many business phones don't provide the clues on the keys)

Other systems don't work so well. Try calling the BCAA travel and insurance number and be prepared for a while on the phone. And, if you pick the wrong option or decide you want a different one, there is no escape- you are in voice mail jail and your only option is hanging up and starting at the beginning again.

Another voice mail system that appears to be popular in the United States asks you to leave a message for the person you are calling by spelling their last name. Well, the first message received from them left no name. The next message left a first name. The third message included a last name but not the spelling and I couldn't guess the right spelling when I called back I am now waiting for a call asking why I haven't returned their call.

Just how frustrated are people becoming with voice mail? MacLeans reported on a recent study of workers in Canada and the US that found the following:

• Workers spend an average of 302 hours each year listening to voice mail and responding to pages, costing employers $4 billion in lost time.
• More than 2.5 hours is spent responding to messages each day
• People are unable to make contact nearly one third of the time
• 74% of respondents said they felt frustrated when they were unable to reach someone. 50% said it was stressful.
• 38% of respondents said they sent work elsewhere when they cannot make contact with the desired party, even if they have voicemail.

Many telephone companies are now offering customers the option of voice forms, and information lines. This means this tool is becoming even more widespread. Don't loose your clients and frustrate your callers. Consider the guidelines for oral scripts but also consider the following.:

Pattern and process

Again, consider your audience. Ask them what information they want to receive through your system. Find out their most common requests and categorize your options accordingly. BC Tel suggests a maximum of 5 menu choices and a recommendation of 3. Whatever number you choose, consider that the entire call must take no more that a maximum of 10 minutes or your callers will not participate.

Always give your callers instructions on how to use your voice mail system, not every one is alike. Be brief but clear. Repeat the "escape" number several times through out the voice mail process. Consider imperative directions rather than vague implied actions. " Press 1 now" versus " if you would like ...you may press 1". provide an option for repeat callers to bypass the instructions.

If you telephone number can be accessed 24 hours a day, and you do not have phone staff 24 hours, do not provide the generic option of speaking to a live operator only for the caller to discover, two layers later that that it only applies 9-5. Try "if you are calling between 9 and 5, a live operator can be reached by pressing 5 at any time"

Focus the information

Choose your options carefully. Provide only the information callers need to get to the next level but remember all the callers questions may not fit into your categories. Have an option available for other requests like " for all other requests press1".

Write a draft

When you write the first draft of your system, draw a flow chart and indicate where all options end up. this way you can eliminate most of the endless loops associated with voice mail jail.

Keep this flow chart and consider using it as a marketing tool for new clients showing your consideration of their needs.

Revision

After the first draft, before you commit the system to technology, make the changes indicated by your flow chart and revise and language or concept difficulties.

Engage a colleague to review your flowchart orally and see if it meets your needs.

Useability testing

Most importantly, for any audio trunking or voice mail system, test the finished, recorded product. First, call it yourself and see if it works. Then, meet with a representative group of your callers and find out how they think your system is working for them. Consider bringing in a useability professional to evaluate the service from a nonpartisan view point.

Continue to evaluate the useability of the system as you make minor changes and upgrades. Once a year reevaluate the structure o ensure it is still providing the service you require.