PODCAST: A Quick Dip into plain language

In a brief 15 minutes, Sarah Black and I dip into plain language and its role in supporting accessible communication across cultures, in a new podcast A Quick Dip.

I was invited to a conversation on A Quick Dip, a new podcast about culture, communications, and change by Sarah Black, founder of Athru Communications and my friend and colleague.

A Quick Dip is a series of conversations, introducing ideas to help make your communications activity more culturally relevant, more inclusive, and more effective. I love that each episode is just 15 minutes long but packed with good stuff.

Sarah invited me to talk about plain language: what plain language means, why it makes us look smarter and its importance to effective communication.

We talked about

• the power of plain language as a bridge between cultures 
• why clear language is a human rights issue 
• the importance of centering your reader in communications  
• how plain language can help you to communicate your message to a more diverse audience 
• the visual design of text so all readers can navigate your message

All that, in just 15 minutes! Tap on the button to listen ⬇ or you can also read the transcript.

Here’s the trailer:

My thoughts upon listening to the podcast: talking-speed and accessibility

Now that I’ve listened to the podcast, I realize: yes, I’m talking really fast 🤦‍♀️ I apologize—I got very excited. And yes, I still advise people to speak slowly 😅 If you have difficulties understanding me, please listen at a slower speed or read the transcript.

Notice how Sarah has

• made transcripts available
• added captions to the trailer video

She’s making her content accessible. And I honor her for that (not least because this is in audio and video—realms that I’ve been too scared to try out!). We should all have accessibility baked into our processes, but it takes effort and time to learn and practice, and solopreneurs like us have to do it all by ourselves.

Thank you, Sarah, for inviting me, and Jane Ordaz (The Virtual Wingwoman), for making it happen!

Resources

• My interview: A Quick Dip into Plain Language – with Ema Naito
• A Quick Dip podcast with Sarah Black: Thoughtful 15-minute conversations about communication, culture, and change.

Cover image by A Quick Dip; my photo by Azusa Uchida.