Reading ages
April 2nd, 2012 at 10:00 am by David FarrarBernard Orsman at NZ Herald reports:
Auckland Council reports need to target a reading age of 13 and be fewer than five pages long to stop people falling to sleep, a senior council officer says in an email to her underlings.
Very sensible.
“All writing, whether in reports, letters or memos needs to be in plain English. You need to target a reading age of around 13.”
When writing reports, Ms Stokes stressed the need for brevity and context for new councillors and local board members “just in case the rest of your report doesn’t get read … which, to be honest, is quite likely”.
Not true for all, but definitely for some. It reminds me of the stories Nat Ministers would tell of the early 1990s Cabinet when Winston would turn up to Cabinet with his papers still in his sealed bag, unread.
Whau Local Board chairman Derek Battersby said Ms Stokes was right to point out the need for concise and clear reports, but it was derogatory to typecast elected representatives as 13-year-olds.
She didn’t. She said aim for a reading age of 13. There is a difference. I believe some media target a reading age of 10 – 12, so a reading age of 13 for Councillors is actually quite ambitious.
I won’t comment on the rumour that Cr Brewer has asked for his papers to be done as illustrated comics 
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April 2nd, 2012 at 10:20 am
Leaving aside that it’s Winston, it’s not unusual for people to turn up to meetings with briefing papers unread. A well written briefing should be consumable in the meeting itself (whilst your peers drone on about some ego trip they’re on), unfortunately most briefing papers are dreadful and focus on what the writer wants to say rather than what the reader needs to know.
Vote:April 2nd, 2012 at 10:47 am
“..I won’t comment on the rumour that Cr Brewer has asked for his papers to be done as illustrated comics
..”
i understand garrett was the first politician to ask for that service…(quinn was envious..)
..parliamentary services had to pop up the road to weta studios..to get an illustrator…
..i also understand garrett had ‘fave-wit-colours’/characters he liked the illustrator to use..
..and was known to clap his hands with glee..if especially pleased at the results..
phillip ure@whoar.co.nz
Vote:April 2nd, 2012 at 10:49 am
Only one thing more concerning than a Director who turns up at a Board Meeting having not read the notes, is the one who tosses them in the bin on his way out the door at the end.
Vote:April 2nd, 2012 at 11:06 am
It might be nice to aim at short reports, but sometimes complex issues require more space to explain and work through. Especially if you want decisions that are made for clear, well-articulated reasons, that consider multiple perspectives, and are based on evidence. Fixation purely on short reports is a recipe for superficial, inadequate responses to complicated issues.
Length isn’t what makes some briefing pages dreadful. Dreadful briefing papers have poor wording, are filled with jargon and unexplained assumptions, and lack clarity. Length can certainly be a symptom of a poor briefing paper, but it is not what makes the paper poor.
Vote:April 2nd, 2012 at 11:28 am
The implication is that people with a reading age of 13 are sitting in judgement on how much money they steal from me for their grandiose plans. Disgrace.
Vote:April 2nd, 2012 at 11:31 am
Reading age is quite a deceptive thing.
Vote:eg. A 40 year old is not twice as good as a 20 year old at reading. Nor obviously do they need to be.
So using the same thinking – maybe 13 is all anybody needs.
Whats the expert opinion on that topic. ??
April 2nd, 2012 at 11:54 am
It seems we’re advanced in NZ. When I worked for the NHS in England we were told to write public information leaflets for a reading age of 7 – apparently the average adult reading age: Sun and Mirror readers, we were told.
Vote:April 2nd, 2012 at 3:28 pm
JeffW (118) Says:
April 2nd, 2012 at 11:28 am
The implication is that people with a reading age of 13 are sitting in judgement on how much money they steal from me for their grandiose plans. Disgrace.
Explains a lot doesn’t it. 13 Year olds run councils.
Vote:April 2nd, 2012 at 6:12 pm
And seven year olds are teachers – have you read a primary school report in the last three years? National standards are supposed to improve literacy but not when you write reports like you have none!
Vote:April 2nd, 2012 at 6:13 pm
Obvious that Whau Local Board chairman Derek Battersby’s reading age is at less than 13
Vote:April 3rd, 2012 at 2:28 pm
david: Only one thing more concerning than a Director who turns up at a Board Meeting having not read the notes, is the one who tosses them in the bin on his way out the door at the end.
But I always do this! (At least not into the bin, but destined for the shredder.) Because I have them all electronically saved and secure anyway and I don’t want printed copies left lying around anywhere.
As for the topic, we were always told 13 was the target reading age for newspaper writers. I can’t imagine it has increased.
Vote: