Blog - Judy Gregory Writer

How PowerPoint came to rule the world

I’ve always been a quiet fan of PowerPoint Yes, I know PowerPoint is the software that people love to hate They want to avoid ‘death by PowerPoint’ at all costs They’d rather talk to people than refer to slides The result is often a rambling monologue with no clear direction I love using PowerPoint It helps me to structure my content, pace my presentations, and speak without notes It gives me something to refer to and talk about And, when I’m working with people from multiple...

Tweed Shire Council takes plain English gold

Tweed Shire Council achieves 2 gold-level certifications for plain English Congratulations to Tweed Shire Council which, in 2021, achieved gold-level certification with PlainLanguagePro for two major documents Tweed demonstrated its commitment to plain English in both its website and its revised Drought and Water Restrictions Policy This makes Tweed Shire Council the first council in NSW to achieve gold-level certification with PlainLanguagePro, and the first council in Australia to...

Online citizens’ jury: Adapting deliberation for the virtual world

In November 2020, I was an independent facilitator for a citizens’ jury organised by Griffith University and the Prince Charles Hospital, convened to consider research priorities for stroke rehabilitation I worked with my colleague Dr Kym Madden to facilitate the event and encourage the jurors to make informed recommendations What was unusual about this citizens’ jury was that it was conducted entirely online Taking the jury online was a necessity rather than a choice: the...

Bias in the bottle shop

Last Sunday, for the first time in my life, I was refused service at a bottle shop The charge: purchase with intent to supply a minor I was momentarily speechless Then I started to assure the cashier he was wrong I had no intention of supplying alcohol to a minor, and couldn’t understand why he’d conclude that I would And then I realised there was no point I had no power in this situation The cashier (who was only just beyond being a minor himself) had made his decision about my...

Triple the butter: A plain English approach to recipes

My bread, with triple butter I’ve been doing some comfort baking – a spicy, oaty sweet bread topped with rosemary-infused syrup Delicious! But when I put my dough aside to rise, I discovered I’d used triple the required butter And that got me thinking about how the recipe’s construction encouraged me to make the mistake Recipe reading needs reasonably high literacy Good recipe writing requires a thoughtful understanding of how readers interact with the text while they’re...

Thanks for the gift of writing time

The gift of time to write is a peculiar thing It’s an astonishingly precious gift: time away from the routines and stresses of everyday life; an opportunity to be immersed in a calm environment that’s purpose-built for writing; normal work cleared to give time to concentrate on one project; time for the things that are most difficult to find – silence, calm, thoughtfulness But it’s a gift that comes with a huge helping of reality Being given time to write hasn’t suddenly made...

Graphic design that makes reading a chore

When I heard about Nick Gadd’s book ‘Death of a typographer’, I could scarcely contain my excitement What could be better than a detective novel where the main character solves typographic crimes This isn’t a review of the novel itself, which I found to be a light-hearted, easy read even if some of the typographic content seemed a little self-conscious Once I realised that I shouldn’t take the novel too seriously, I enjoyed being taken for a typographic ride But I found the...

Logan: Gold Standard for Plain English

Logan City Council website meets a gold standard for plain English This week, Logan City Council became the first council in Australia to achieve gold-level certification for its website from PlainLanguageProThe certification confirms that Logan City Council applied plain language principles in developing its new website For Logan City Council, plain language certification is part of an overall effort to ensure its website is fully accessible and user focused By March 2020, the council...

Would you like an apostrophe with your coffee’s?

I notice apostrophe errors Like many writers, I silently correct greengrocers’ apostrophes and misplaced possessives, and I put reasonable effort into making sure I dont make the same mistake’s myself I’m the proud owner of a t-shirt promoting the Apostrophe Protection Society Like many word-lovers, I was disappointed this week to hear the Society is closing Apparently its 96-year-old founder, John Richards, admitted defeat, claiming that ‘the ignorance and laziness present in...