Plain language writing means using short sentences.
Short sentences are easier to:
- read and understand because they limit the scope of an idea
- scan because they have fewer words, phrases and clauses than long sentences.
It’s easy to lose your message in a long sentence.
Rules for sentence length:
- Keep sentences to an average of 15 words and no more than 25 words.
- Break sentences over 25 words long into 2 sentences.
- Start a sentence with ‘And’, ‘Or’ or ‘But’ to make a shorter sentence (it’s allowed).
- Move some of the words into a list if you can’t avoid a long sentence.
- Include a mix of sentence lengths in your document – readers like variety and rhythm.
Using shorter sentences also makes it easier to notice if you left out any important information.
In the following, ‘Not this’ appears before ‘Write this’ to show how we can change wordy sentences into more readable text.
Not this
Because there are criminal elements using techniques they have developed to try to exploit potential weaknesses in AI systems, organisations need to update AI systems on an ongoing basis to meet evolving threats and risks. It’s important for organisations to note that applying traditional IT best practices to AI systems should also occur. [53 words]
Write this
Criminals try to exploit weaknesses in AI technology. This threat evolves as often as the technology does.
Organisations should do 2 things to reduce risks to their AI systems:
- apply traditional IT methods that are best practice
- update AI systems continually. [41 words]
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Last updated
This page was updated Thursday 19 December 2024.