Local government focus: writing for multiple audiences

Times are changing for local government. Staff numbers are falling because of budget cuts, the localism agenda means that councils will soon be taking an increased responsibility for public health and reports now have a shorter journey from draft stage to centre stage. The secret of success is understanding your audience, writes Emma Beals.

You might find that your role has expanded, along with the variety of writing you need to do. Perhaps you’re now being asked to write reports for council meetings or as briefing reports for councillors, update websites or prepare material for residents. In some cases, you’re writing for a very specific group of people. And in others, you’re writing documents that have to explain large amounts of information to the general public but also satisfy the technical requirements of more specialist audiences – all while complying with legal and statutory requirements. It’s a big challenge at a time when what you really want to do is focus on delivering essential services.

Sounds like a nightmare? It doesn’t have to be. Give your writing skills a boost and you’ll not only cut down on revisions and confusion, but also save yourself precious time and sanity. Here’s how.

Before writing, consider these four things:

1. Study your audience
Your writing could be read by residents, councillors, community and lobby groups, service providers or the media, or all of the above. Think about the audience(s) you’re writing for – what do they need to know?

Think of your multiple audience as a strength. While previously various groups may have been suspicious that you were providing different information to different audiences, now everything is open.

You’ll need to adapt your writing style to engage all the sections of your audience. Think about:

Tone
When writing for a website for example, consider an informal tone. This doesn’t mean using colloquialisms or being patronising, but being more conversational, simplifying your language,explaining things and giving examples. Reports will be more formal, but they still shouldn’t read like a PhD.

Language
Where possible, use everyday words rather than technical terminology, especially if members of the public will be reading your document.

Purpose
For either audience, come back to the question: What am I trying to say? The old-fashioned newswriting principles – who, what, where, when, why, how and how much (£) – will stand you in good stead. Read back over your copy: have you covered all of them that are relevant?

2. Dump unnecessary jargon
Government has an abundance of jargon. Avoid it if you can.

Some of it is easy to identify and avoid, but some you’ll use so often you may not even think of it as jargon – such as ‘deliverables’ or ‘outputs’. Think about what you’re actually trying to say; a deliverable is just ‘what we did’, so say that instead.

It’s worth noting that not all jargon is bad. In some cases, what could appear nonsensical to one group of people is an important technical term to those in the know. Again, it comes down to focusing on and understanding your audience. If they know what a ‘NEET’ is, then that’s the most concise way to communicate quite a complex idea. But if they don’t, you need to explain.

This doesn’t have to be hard. Just imagine you’re telling a (non-LG) friend in the pub, and suddenly ‘Output of 16 NEETs into job pathways in Quarter 1’ becomes ‘Over the past three months, we’ve helped 16 young people who weren’t in employment or education take up training or work experience.’

And while we’re on the topic of jargon, let’s take a moment to consider ‘silos’. If your piece includes information on services that are provided by another department or body, do some hunting and include a description and a contact. It will help keep your reader engaged and enable them to access a service.

3. Preparing for consultations
Build trust and engage residents and local organisations by ensuring consultations are written openly, honestly and accessibly.

Before consulting, either formally or informally, be very clear about what can actually be changed. Then, write a consultation that asks specifically and exclusively about that. Don’t give the impression you’re seeking views on a whole scheme if respondents can influence only a small part.

Stick to simple, easily understood questions. A common mistake is the double question, eg it’s better to ask six direct questions than three long, ambiguous ones – and makes it easier to collate the responses.

When writing up consultations, articulate clearly who responded and what they said, and lay out what will happen next. Get in touch with respondents to direct them to the findings.

4. Report writing
Staffing cuts may mean you’re now writing reports that go straight to council meetings or councillors without a senior colleague revising or signing them off, as happened in the past. This can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t need to be. A report should be:

Well structured
You’re writing about something specific, so don’t be tempted to try and include all the information you’ve got in. Once your topic is clear, outline the structure using clear headings. This will give you a skeleton that you can then fill in.

Accurate
Everything must be correct. It’s worth double checking if no one is proofing for you. Never use terms or language you don’t understand.

Clear
You live and breathe your service area, but the reader may not, so make sure you use simple language and explain complicated policies. Use the active voice rather than the passive, because it is clearer and more engaging. So, instead of ‘a decision has been taken to …’, write ‘we have decided to …’. (More on active and passive verbs.)

Concise
Statutory obligations, facts and figures and multiple departments can quickly make a report unwieldy. Stay focused on the key points you need to communicate, include the information you need to and no more.

And remember, reports are published before meetings, so that community groups, residents and the media have time to read and respond. So you’ll save yourself time and a few grey hairs if you speak to your press office in advance and prepare a set of responses to difficult follow-up questions.

Emma Beals is a freelance writer and public sector communications professional.

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