Join fellow WAFDO members and participate in a webinar titled, Writing Documents Under Pressure: Making It Easy
10:00 – 11:30 am, PT on Tuesday, April 20, 2021.
Space will be limited to 25 attendees per session. Once registered, refunds unfortunately will not be given.
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires that government employees write public documents in a clear and well‐organized manner. Government employees are often given short deadlines. They need to be able to create documents that are correct, complete, and concise in stressful situations.
During this session, you’ll be introduced to techniques that will enable you to draft documents under pressure. By the end of the session, you’ll be able to:
· Apply the principles in the Federal Plain Language Guidelines of 2010.
· Write documents that will answer the readers’ questions before they ask them.
· Organize most documents in less than 60 seconds.
· Format documents so they can be read easily on cell phones.
· Use an online tool to analyze the readability of your documents.
· Employ an online tool that will help eliminate extra spaces when copying materials from two or more documents.
Thoughts and Reactions of Other Regulators Who Participated in the Session:
Great examples of what writing well looks like. The text-to-speech function will help me proofread my documents and avoid embarrassing errors.
In the past, my supervisor told me to use the active rather than the passive voice in my writing. I finally understand the difference.
I now know how to write an email that the reader can quickly comprehend.
I will be a better writer tomorrow when I use the tools taught in the class including getting my computer to read my documents aloud, analyzing the readability of my documents, and using the text fixer to eliminate formatting problems when I cut and paste material from one document to another.
About Your Presenters
Nancy Singer is an Assistant Professor at George Washington University. She teaches good communication skills and leadership to FDA employees through ORA University and the FDA Staff Colleges. She began her career as a federal prosecutor doing litigation for the FDA.
Cynthia Culmo is the Principal Consultant at CC Consulting. She has held corporate roles in medical products organizations, including medical devices, biologics, and pharmaceuticals. During her career, she served as the Director for Drugs and Medical Devices for the State of Texas.
