Your work is important, and it needs to be accessible to the public but it’s not enough to post it online and call it a day. The information itself must be accessible. It has to be clear to the legislators on the committee, the Legislature as a whole, and the public.
Jargon – or technical terms, unfamiliar abbreviations, bureaucratese, or insider shorthand – obstructs communication and is a snub to your reader. It’s like a group of friends speaking an unfamiliar foreign language in front of you even though they know you don’t understand. Your job is to cut through the noise, not add to it. Your job is to communicate complicated information clearly and concisely. Write to inform the public, not to impress your colleagues.
Avoid any terms familiar only to those inside the legislative process. “Above the line” and “below the line” mean something to those in the public education world but not to everyone in the Legislature and not to the public. “Pocket veto,” is similar. Most of the time, you can avoid the terms – a veto is a veto. But if you feel like you must use a term that is common to insiders but unfamiliar to those outside the process, put it in quotes and explain it.
Avoid technical terms that lose the reader. “Sequential intercept mapping” is shorter than “tracking those with mental and substance use disorders through the criminal justice system” but means nothing without the explanation. Unfunded actuarial accrued liability is important to pension fund solvency, but it’s clearer to say, “the ability of the fund to pay for current and future employee benefits.”
Avoid overly complicated explanations of technical details. Provide your reader with the information they need to understand the issue. Often, the more technical information is unnecessary. The reader doesn’t need to know everything you know.
For similar reasons, use abbreviations sparingly. Most are insider shorthand. Some are acceptable but avoid alphabet soup, which is frustrating to read and ugly in print. Federal guidelines suggest two or three abbreviations per document. Aim for that.
LESC cautioned PEC that PED’s policy on CRT for SPEDs may jeopardize compliance with ESSA unless the IEPs are aligned with IDEA or NAEP.
If possible, use a common noun on subsequent references. Unless multiple departments or programs (or school districts or laws or whatever) are being discussed, most readers will understand subsequent references to the “department” or the “program.” While abbreviations might be shorter, being clear is more important.
The Aging and Long-Term Services Department
… the department
The Penitentiary of New Mexico
… the prison
The Commission for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Persons
… the agency
Do not invent unnecessary abbreviations or use abbreviations that create confusion. APS can be Albuquerque Public Schools, Artesia Public Schools, or Adult Protective Services. Many abbreviations are listed in the Style Manual and an abbreviation cheat sheet is available on the style training website. Look up the organization before inventing an abbreviation or adopting the agency’s, which can change.
Do not use an abbreviation at all, if it’s never going to be used again in the same document. And even if you are using an abbreviation throughout a document, repeat the full name with the abbreviation if the full name has not been used for a page or so to remind the reader what the abbreviation stands for.
Specifically, do not use
· negative growth or decrease over (which are oxymorons)
· P-20, P-12, K-12 (unfamiliar shorthand to anyone outside education)
· performance outcome, achievement outcome (redundant bureaucratese)
· in general fund (the general fund is a bucket, not the money itself, use “from the general fund”)
· including but not limited to (the word including tells the reader it’s a partial list)
· and/or (or any lazy slashes)
This is a short list. If you’re not sure a term is unfamiliar to the general reader, ask someone outside the process if they know what it means. If they don’t, even in context, avoid it or explain it.
The style manual covers many of these terms with suggestions for alternative language. Look it up.