Module 2 · Chapter 4

Speak Like a Human

A client email can be right about every clause and still be no use to the client. This chapter shows how to say what a document does in plain words, and keep every fact exact.

≈ 11 min read 8-question test

In this chapter

  • Why an email that is right can still fail the client
  • How to write a clause as its effect, with the clause number kept
  • The board test, and what plain words must keep

4.1Plain English in one paragraph

A client does not need the name of a clause, only its effect: what happens, to whom, and in what order. Plain language means writing that effect in words the client could repeat, with the clause number in brackets at the end. The reader who wants the clause can find it, and the reader who does not is not stopped by it. This chapter follows one email that got this wrong, and the rewrite that went to a board unchanged.

Key point

The name is for the index. The effect is for the person with the diary. Drop the term, say what happens in the order it happens, and keep the clause number.

Also in this chapter

  1. An email that is right and still useless
  2. Why lawyers write jargon
  3. The four-line rewrite
  4. The board test
  5. Plain is not simple
  6. Your job

Preview

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