Speaking and Writing in Plain English

Since I got my start in the writing side of things in higher ed, I have a passion about good writing in marketing.

I know, you're probably thinking: Good writing? Good lord, D.W., half your posts are incoherent ramblings with misspellings.

And to you I say: Hey, this is my blog, not where I throw down my "professional" thing. Here, I only represent the imperfect, corruptible D.W., not the perfect, infallible shining beacon of light that is my school.

Now that that's out of the way ...

I am digging on the book Cluetrain Manifesto, and some of its main tenants, including this one: "In just a few more years, the homogenized 'voice' of business -- the sounds of mission statements and brochures -- will seem as contrived and artificial as the language of the 18th century French court."

I think the time is already here and now, especially for higher ed. We market to the group of people whose language is the farest you could get from the homogenized voice of business: high school students.

If anyone can smell a poser or someone pompously hiding behind words, it's them.

I've made a personal commitment to stop with all the flimflam and "look how smart and special-sounding I am" speech in my work and write in plain English. No flashy words, no meaningless words, no "the university" words. Just pure simple "you, me and we" and words/concepts you don't need a master's in business or higher ed administration to get.

Some would say I'm selling out the intellectual soul of higher ed. But I say, the times, they are a-changing.

Schools that can strike a balance between their educational soul and speaking in the new language will survive. Those that distance themselves via language will be distanced from enrolling students.

As one practical example of how you can take something made meaningless through language and give it meaning, I've taken my school's mission statement and 6 core values (which note such obvious values as "learning," wow, who would have thought a university would value that?) and boiled them down to the following:

We help people through education, health care and research. We value and respect all people. We keep our students' best interests and needs in mind when we act. We're located in a city.

OK, no doubt some of you are laughing. But seriously: isn't it clear after you read this what we're about? Isn't it better than reading a mission statement and 6 core values filled with tons of words?

Think on it and try to do the same thing with your mission statement. And then take your revised mission statement and show it to students, your neighbors, your family. See which one they like better.