What is the Plain Writing Act?
How is the Department implementing the Plain Writing Act?
- We offer a 1 hour workshop for employees on the principles of plain writing.
- We offer targeted plain writing training to offices and teams within the Department.
- We run a yearly “Jargon Mania” exercise to highlight the need to move away from jargon and use clear and well understood language.
- We regularly publish notices reminding employees to use plain writing in their communication.
For additional details on how the Department is implementing the Plain Writing Act see the annual compliance reports.
2023 Plain Writing Act Compliance Report [2 MB]
2022 Plain Writing Act Compliance Report [190 KB]
2021 Plain Writing Act Compliance Report [154 KB]
Plain Writing Examples [487 KB]
The Office of Directives Management administers Plain Writing Program initiatives of the Department of State. Please email PlainLanguage@state.gov with any comments.