I went to the PLAIN conference to give a talk on how lawyers can use non-text explanations (text tables, text boxes, and flowcharts) to explain legal topics. And I wanted to find out more about the plain language movement – an international version of plain English.

By the way, they’d prefer it if you didn’t say ‘movement’, even thought it is a movement. In the best sense of the word.

Non-text explanations summarise complexity and
draw readers into the text

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Getting lawyers to use non-text explanations

My talk covered my experience of getting lawyers to use non-text explanations in client updates and newsletters. The talk included real-world examples: from simple non-text explanations (the humble text box) to the more exotic (now-to-then text tables; flowcharts). And all of the examples can be put together in MS Word.

Here’s the blurb from the conference document:

‘Most readers find non-text explanations (ie text tables and flowcharts) really useful, particularly in long text documents. Non-text explanations can summarise a complex concept quickly: once you understand the bigger picture it’s much easier to absorb the detailed text.

I’ve found that lawyers value non-text explanations when they see them (eg in legal journals or newspapers), but seldom produce them for their own updates. The problem seems to be partly confidence (lawyers worry that they’ll ‘dumb down’ a legal topic) and partly mechanics (lawyers find it fiddly to put together a neat flowchart).’

I also set out a few suggestions on what firms need to do to get lawyers to put more non-text explanations into their client updates (see link below for details).

A post-PowerPoint slideshow: no bullet-points; a single page ‘briefing agenda’ handout

I also took the opportunity to prepare slides and a handout in a post-PowerPoint way.

It’s a pretty simple idea, and it saves your audience from the misery of text-and-bullets presentations. Here’s my post ppt recipe:

• Keep bullet-points off the slides:
  Say ‘no’ to text-heavy, bullet-point-laden slideshows; they hurt your message. You know about the disease (death by PowerPoint), and you’ve read the books (‘Beyond bullet points’, ‘Presentation zen’). So step away from the bullet-points.
• Give your audience a one-page presentation summary:
  Have a look at the handout and slides (see the link below) and you’ll see the one-page briefing agenda (and accompanying detail sheets) that I gave to the audience. The single page briefing-agenda is better than a printouts of the slides: your audience sees the whole flow of your presentation on one page.

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A briefing agenda, detail pages, and clear slides (see link below to the handout and the slides)

When you’re presenting you don’t want the audience reading your slides. But if you put text up there, that’s what your audience will do.

A simple point, but worth re-stating…

Click the link below to get the briefing-agenda handout and the slides. But the slides are only included to illustrate the ‘post PowerPoint’ idea – you don’t need to print them out.

So when you go to print, just print pages 1-5 (the slides rock, but you don’t need to print them out; the handout gives you all the detail).

Click to download briefing-agenda and slides.

This is a section of a tag cloud at www.overflowlegal.com,
click in the image above to see whole tag cloud

Tag clouds use topics, but website navigation uses sections
If you click a word in a tag cloud you see a list of content that covers that topic.

Tag-clouds give website users an easy way to find content on particular topics. You don’t need to know in advance which section of the website that content has been tucked away in.

This is why tag clouds are helpful: click on a word in a tag cloud and you see a list of content that covers that topic – regardless of what section that content is in. A tag-cloud is a useful website feature, in the same way that a dos-and-don’ts box is a useful feature in an e-bulletin.

You can see the full tag cloud for this site here.

How tag clouds work, and why the words are different sizes

‘Tags’ are invisible labels that explain what topics a particular bit of content on the website mentions or covers. One piece of content can have several tags.

The tag cloud shows all the tags in that websites (or the number of tags that can be shown in a specific bit of space on the home page). The words are bigger or smaller in the tag cloud according to how many bits of content have that tag. This site is all about creating more client-focused know how updates, so the ‘client needs’ tag is one of the biggest in our tag cloud.

And you can create new tags as you go, so you’re not limited to a fixed list of available tags (it’s relatively difficult to add a new section to a website).

Why web designers don’t like tag clouds

Now, I must declare a prejudice here. I’ve worked with a lot of website designers and web developers. Some are talented individuals (like my collaborator on this website, WordPress guru Simon Dickson).

But like all specialists (e.g. doctors, builders, economists) there’s a trade-language that serves to keep clients in their place. Two powerful touchstones of this language are ‘site map’, and ‘information architecture’.

If website designers and their information-architect colleagues want to put the wind up a client they might say “we need to get the information architecture sorted out first”, or “it all depends on what your sitemap looks like”. What this means is that they want to set the framework and structure of the site first, but they want to add a bit of smoke and mirrors to the process (I did mention I was prejudiced).

All that these phrases mean is that a website is like a bento box that holds pieces of content. So website desiners have to design the bento box first. But phrases like “information architecture” sound more glam than “we have to have a structure for the website”.

And that last phrase is a bit like saying that there are lions and tigers in the zoo… Structure. Website. Duh.

A tag-cloud rains on the information-architect’s parade

Tag clouds give website users (i.e. the website designer’s client’s clients) an easy way to get to the content they’re interested in. A click on a word in a tag cloud removes the need to navigate through the information architect’s carefully planned sections.

So that’s why a web designer or (and) an information architect will try to talk you out of a tag cloud. They’ll say that tag clouds ‘are a bit messy’, and talk sniffily about their ‘usability’.

Just tell them that you want to make it easy for your clients to find content. And that like Malcolm X, you’ll do it by any means necessary.

(Simon Carter, managing director, One Three Four)

The law of shiny things works like this: magpies can’t tell the difference between a diamond ring and a bit of Kit Kat wrapper. And humans aren’t that different.

A new delivery format or an extra bells-and-whistles feature will attract client attention – even if it’s not a step-change improvement. (Penicillin was a step-change improvement, touch screens are a shiny thing that may improve mobile phones).

There’s a bit of magpie in all of us, and our inner hunter-gatherer is always on the lookout for things that are different from the norm. But once you have the attention you have to deliver. The law of shiny things is not a licence for froth and baubles

The rise of video clips – the law of shiny things at work

Video clips on websites are a good example. Several UK law firms have adopted them in the last year – they give you a lawyer’s talking head rather than a screed of text. Here’s an example from Ashurst, a London law firm (we had no involvement in this piece of work): have a look

This is a good-practice example as it looks smart and there’s an easy-to-see-link to a briefing that fleshes out the content of the video clip (the briefing uses text tables too). But video clips work partly because they’re shiny things – different enough from the norm to get noticed. Once all firms use video clips they won’t be so shiny.

But a word in the defence of video clips: even when the format is less shiny (i.e. a norm rather than an exception) it will be just useful for clients. That’s because it takes less mental effort to process a video clip in ‘lean back’ mode than it does to read a briefing in ‘lean forward’ mode.

For now, video clips are a good illustration of the law of shiny things – they give you a low-cost way to stand out from the crowd.

A shiny-thing format that gives you a website you can email and print out. Without having to talk to the IT folks…

When we decided to market a joint-venture with Music Makers* (details at foot of page), a professional-services telesales firm, we had the law of shiny things in mind. So we developed this interactive PDF, or iPDF.

An iPDF is a PDF that behaves like a website. You can email it, and print it out, but it works like a website, and you can even embed sound and video – as shiny a thing as you ever saw.

Have a look another example and make sure you click on the sound clip – it’s under the big red arrow in the upper-left corner: try the sound clip in this iPDF. And the links in the right column of this iPDF are cunningly set to open web pages in a new tab.

Embedding sound clips is easy to do, and means that you can have a neat way to email clients something that’s a cross between a PDF, a website/microsite, and a podcast.

Product features can be shiny too

Slinky content-delivery formats aren’t the only way to tap into the law of shiny things – helpful product features are shiny things too.

Useful know-how update features – clear headlines, summaries that highlight action points, helpful text tables – all help to make your products shinier than your competitors’. We cover these topics in our writing training, and our pet client-focus mnemonic will help you focus on these client-focused features.

From touch screen phones to, well, more touch-screen phones

Pre iPhone, hardly anybody had seen a touch screen phone. At the moment touch-screen phones are still fairly shiny, but not for much longer. Most higher-end phones now have touch screens. And at the time of writing Nokia – who sell about a third of all mobile phones – is wheeling out its first touch-screen phones.

The shininess of the touch screen phone is on the wane, but goodness it’s given Apple one wild ride – they sold over 17m in the 18 months between June 2007 and December 2008.

And that is the second part of the shiny thing law – the shiny thing of today will become the plain-vanilla feature of tomorrow.

So if you want to make use of that magpie-instinct in your clients, keep an eye out for the next big shiny-thing.
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*Music Makers are a professional-services telesales firm
They arrange new-business meetings for law firms, accountants, insurance and financial services firms. Previous and current clients include Mazars LLP, Haines Watts, Hoodless Brennan & Partners Plc, Clyde & Co, and Katten Muchin Rosenman Cornish LLP. Find out more at www.musicmakers.tv

Know-how updates need product features just like anything else. But what’s striking is how often – as the old song very nearly says – that they’re not there.

Better product-features make your message – and your
thinking – clear to clients

Many of the improvements we make to law-firm updates and newsletters are made by improving or adding product features. Our top three are:

• A two-part headline that shows what the development is, and then suggests an impact or implication.
• An up-front summary that focuses on the likely implications for clients.
• A ‘related items’ box that explains the context: how we got here; what might happen next.

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A product-feature parable: the Golf and the Allegro

Here’s a short parable (a whisker over two minutes) that tells the story of the two cars launched in the mid 1970s, the Golf and Allegro. One is a by-word for the failure of the British car industry, the other is still going strong. One product feature made the difference.

If you don’t want to know how the parable ends, click on the video below now (I’m about to tell you the parable pay-off)…

The killer product-feature in the parable is… a hatchback. British Leyland, owners of the Austin brand, felt that a hatchback was a pointless expense for the Allegro. Management were convinced that the strong Austin brand would guarantee Allegro sales. Tellingly, they took this decision in the face of evidence that consumers really, really liked hatchbacks.

Volkswagen went with the hatchback, and the rest is history. The Golf has averaged annual sales of 760,000 for over 30 years. The Allegro only managed 640,000 in total over its ten-year production run.

Click the ‘play’ button in the picture below to play video.

Look for features in your firm’s updates – they’re not there…
You’ll find basic features like headlines and a ‘contact us’ link, but does the headline tell you what happened and what the implications are? Is there a 75-word summary that explains who should take note of this development, and what they should do? Is there a ‘related items’ feature that helps to explain the context?

Mostly these kind of features are either missing (in the case of related items), or poorly and inconsistently used (often the case with headlines), or borderline (summaries).

And are text tables that compare current rules with the new rules a rarity, or a pretty standard feature in your law-firm’s updates?

Product-features create client-friendly updates. If they’re not there, then you’re making your reader (a valued client or prospect) work harder. And you’re increasing the risk that they’ll move off from reading your update to do something else. Like read your competitor’s update on the same topic.

The really bad news – poor features and content
in your updates put your reputation at risk

We’ve asked clients about whether or not they notice helpful features. They do. The features they recall range from online seminar materials with CPD points, to updates that they can forward to business colleagues without having to rewrite them.

To find out more about the risk that your updates pose to the firm’s reputation click here.

Lawyers who use numbers and data will stand out from the crowd

There’s a myth that lawyers don’t ‘do’ numbers. Believers say it’s because lawyers live in a world of words where numbers don’t get a look-in.

We’re less convinced – 0ur view is that business is pretty numbers-focused, and lawyers are part of business. Numeracy may not be a lawyers’ first skill, but it’s definitely in the skillset.

Clients do ‘do’ numbers even if lawyers appear not to. And there’s a lot of data that relates to legal topics – but when did you last see a chart in a law-firm update or briefing.?

Charts and data-tables (and interactive charts like the one below) would make memorable legal-update features.

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Here are three examples of data that clients would find interesting

A firm that uses data to explain or illustrate legal developments would show clients that they speak their language (our writing training includes a module on using data and charts).

Here are just a few charts that clients have never seen from a law firm (as far as we can tell, but we’d love to be proved wrong):

• Trends in EU competition fines:
  Here are some quick snippets of EU-competition data: over €2.25 billion in fines in 2008; six of the ten largest individual fines since 1969 were handed down in just two years – 2007 and 2008.
• Pension-fund debts of UK Plcs in last five years:
  It may sound like something you’d find in the FT – but pension-fund trustees would find this interesting, if a tad depressing.
• Statistics on IP mediation and dispute resolution:
  We couldn’t find published data on this topic, let alone charts of the data. It doesn’t mean that the data doesn’t exist, it just means that it’s not been gathered and presented in a way that supports an argument or illustrates a point.

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Interactive charts: a neat way to give clients an insight into data

A first step along the data-presentation road would be more charts and data tables in updates and e-bulletins. But if your team has found some interesting data that supports an idea you’re keen to explain to clients, then step right up to the interactive chart.

Interactive charts let you change variables and see how this changes results. As humans, we find this kind of thing very helpful because we learn a lot about the data-set as we see the results change. The demo we’ve put together uses data from a number of US clinics on the amounts of a specific drug, Avastin, prescribed to treat different kinds of cancer.

Interactive charts help you understand data. You can see the data change as you alter filters and parameters (see video above – full-screen view is best)

The key interactive feature we’ve added is a slider that lets you ‘time slice’ the data – as you drag the slider over the upper chart area detailed data on a specific month is displayed in the lower chart area.

The video above shows a very short (38 second) clip of a demo website we put together to show how interactive web-based charts can work. This kind of technology is pretty simple now: all it takes is a little thought and imagination, and knowing the right people (which means us).

Go to the live interactive chart (thanks to Majestic Research*)

Firstly, it’s a demo so there are a few glitches. Secondly, please note that the data shown is purely indicative and not for investment purposes. The data was provided by Majestic Research* – a New York based investment-research firm we’ve done some interesting work for.

Do have a quick look at the video above before you try the live chart – the video shows how the chart works.

To see the live chart – you can click-and-drag and timeslice to your heart’s content – click here.

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*Find out more about about Majestic Research at www.majesticresearch.com

Text tables show your readers that you’re trying to help.

Text tables give you a flexible way to sum up complexity. They’re a really helpful feature in any update, bulletin, article, newsletter, or seminar handout. Or pitch. Or pretty much any document that you can think of.

Clients value them as they summarise, and allow you to compare and contrast information.

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Clients find text tables useful, but authors
don’t use them as often as they could

They notice and remember text tables that highlight action points, explain pros and cons, or show the difference between old and new rules.

But many authors forget about tables or think they’re going to be too difficult to produce. We think that there are three reasons why expert-authors forget about text tables when they’re writing know-how updates:

• Text-only bias:
  If you’re used to thinking and writing great blocks of narrative text then a Word table is the last thing you’ll think of.
• Fear of Word, and it’s complex table-formatting tools:
  People find creating text tables in Word a pain because they’re not used to using Word’s table-formatting tools (and they haven’t got the benefit of automated Word templates).
• Internal design team and brand-and-design guidelines:
  At some firms, expert authors fight running battles with brand guidelines that don’t include helpful advice on how to format tables.

And here are some examples of how law firms can use text tables

We’ve put together a document that shows just how effective text tables and other non-text techniques (e.g. flowcharts and decision trees) are. It contains ten examples – to see our personal favourite click here.

Tame the Word-table beast: two helpful guides

We’re fans of text tables and what they can do. You can create timelines, rustle up a flowchart, or compare the new (or proposed) situation with the current state of play. But the way that Word creates text tables can seem a bit daunting.

Word’s powers are its weakness when it comes to text tables. It has very powerful text-table formatting tools, and some unhelpful default settings. Put these two factors together and it’s a cocktail of misery that puts lots of people off creating text tables. (Don’t be tempted to use Excel, by the way, as that’ll just create a different set of problems.)

But text-table help is at hand –  we’ve put together two pieces of advice to help you create clearer text tables:

a) One-page guide to five good table-features click here.
b) Detailed 15-minute video tutorial (see below).

A 15-minute video tutorial on creating text tables in Word

Now then, fear not – not every text table will take you 15 minutes. The tutorial is that long because:
– We’ve gone slowly and included every small step
– It’s basic Word rather than an automated Word-template.

If you click on the full-screen icon (bottom right of window below) you’ll see the video-tutorial at actual size (no zooms and pans to make you dizzy).

You’ll find it helpful to download the ‘five good text-table features’ guide first. It shows the table that’s created in the video with a list of the five tips, and it has a full-size version of the table that you an make your own notes on.