Have a Conversation with Your Readers

As writers and editors, we’re taught to write content geared to our reader audiences. Janice (Ginny) Redish, PhD, of Redish & Associates, Inc., in Bethesda, MD, suggests taking the next step: think of your content as a conversation with your readers.

“Everything we write is part of a conversation. To have successful conversations (in e-mail, websites, apps, and more), we must understand what we are trying to achieve (our purposes), who we are conversing with (personas), and what they want and need to know (their conversations),” says Redish.

Redish understands that medical writing is always functional. Our readers have concerns, needs, or questions. We want them to do something. Therefore, we must go beyond thinking of our purposes as “to inform” or “to educate.” Better writing comes from stating our purposes more explicitly, whether it be helping a patient’s family, presenting new data to practicing physicians, or thoroughly describing clinical trials information to FDA officials.

Redish is a linguist by training, and her conversational writing approach is based on research in linguistics and cognitive psychology. She is a renowned specialist in plain language, writing for the web, and user experience research and design and has earned many distinctions around the world. She has served on the Board of Directors of both the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and the Usability Professionals’ Association and is currently vice chair of the Center for Plain Language.

A dynamic speaker, Redish is among the most sought-after speakers for training and keynote addresses in the field of communication. She will share her expertise in two sessions at the AMWA Annual Conference: “Purposes, Personas, Conversations: Practical Techniques for Everything You Write.” Redish’s unique conversational approach to all types of writing will help attendees of this session create content that is the most useful to their audiences. Session attendees can expect a lively conversation with many health and medical examples, rather than a lecture. To prepare for the session, you’re invited to download two free chapters from her book, Letting Go of the Words – Writing Web Content that Works, which she will refer to in her talk.

Redish’s presentation is an encore from this year’s STC Summit. The session features a second encore by another leading STC member, Ann Rockley, of The Rockley Group in Toronto, whose talk is titled “Structured Writing: Today’s Best Practice for Medical Content.”

Redish will also speak in the session “Putting Plain Language into Practice: Training, Tools, and Trends.” Here, Redish will discuss how to apply plain language to create online resources and describe a new training program for plain language practitioners. She will be joined by Diane Moyer, MS, RN, Associate Director, Health System Patient Education, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, who will discuss the use of plain language in patient education materials destined for translation. Moyer’s department of patient education is a member of the Ohio Collaborative for Clear Health Communication.

Expand your horizons and learn from these outstanding experts speak at the AMWA Annual Conference.

--Joanne M. McAndrews, PhD, 2013 AMWA Annual Conference Committee