Use clear straightforward English! Avoid costly problems in the international marketplace. The failure to communicate in clear straightforward English causes many costly problems in the international marketplace. Problems occur when your international customers and correspondents do not understand your message in English. Documents that are specifically written in English for an international audience will help you to avoid frustrating, time-consuming and costly errors. They will save you money and help you grow your international business. XportEnglish can help. We revise your English language documents for the international marketplace. Our services apply to printed materials, oral presentations, and web sites. We also offer a red-pencil service for quick turn-around editing. WRITING TIPS There are six main steps in preparing spoken or written materials in plain English for an international audience.


Introduction
MAIN CONTENTS
How plain English
can help your business
What is plain English?
Editing services
Consulting services
Company profile
More writing tips
Some useful links
How to contact us
Introduction
More writing tips
Use short sentences
Use short paragraphs
Use common words
Use terms consistently
Define special terms and
abbreviations
Use active voice,
positive words
Be clear and concise
Emphasize important information
Avoid slang and
colloquialisms
Maintain cultural neutrality
Avoid noun strings
Illustrate with pictures,
tables and charts
Summary
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The first six steps
1
Know your audience, their needs and their interests. There may be more than one audience for your message!
2
Plan your message according to the particular needs of each audience.
3
Organize your materials logically.
4
Write in Plain English; then edit the Plain English text for an international audience.
5
Test the performance of your materials on a sample of your audience.
6
Revise your materials according to the results of the tests.
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URL: http://home.earthlink.net/~xportenglish/
Revised: 27 November 1999