Aug 18, 2026 · 58 min · 16 segments
Meet **Christopher Balmford** and **Cinzia Theobald**: plain language champions, international standard setters, and the co-founders of In-Game Learning. From Christopher’s early days challenging…
Christopher BalmfordGuest
Cinzia TheobaldGuest
Bob MilsteinHost
Why should companies and organizations ever care about plain language communication?
The first one is that plain language help makes the documents the organizations write more efficient.
There's a tremendous research from the Norwegian Language Council, which I think is called Språkradet in Norwegian.
They commissioned a report from economic economics, which shows that our local government project in Norway, based on several projects, got a return on investment of between 30% and 300%.
Some of you listeners will know that from listening to Torin Rexton's interview a week or two ago.
The document does its job better in the sense that documents are written for a purpose.
The purpose is more likely to be achieved if the readers of the document can understand it and know what they're meant to do or can make an informed, confident decision about whether to do that or not.
The citizens deserve to be able to understand what government is doing in their name.
That's a quote from Nella Omar, who was the first attorney general in the South African government when Nelson Mandela was resident in South Africa.
There's a fourth reason, which I think is really important for much smaller organizations than countries.
And it's that the documents and organization rights form the voice of the organization's brand.
You know, every time we speak, we think about who we're speaking to and why we're speaking to them.
Why should companies and organizations ever care about plain language communication?
The first one is that plain language help makes the documents the organizations write more efficient.
There's a tremendous research from the Norwegian Language Council, which I think is called Språkradet in Norwegian.
They commissioned a report from economic economics, which shows that our local government project in Norway, based on several projects, got a return on investment of between 30% and 300%.
Some of you listeners will know that from listening to Torin Rexton's interview a week or two ago.
The document does its job better in the sense that documents are written for a purpose.
The purpose is more likely to be achieved if the readers of the document can understand it and know what they're meant to do or can make an informed, confident decision about whether to do that or not.
The citizens deserve to be able to understand what government is doing in their name.
That's a quote from Nella Omar, who was the first attorney general in the South African government when Nelson Mandela was resident in South Africa.
There's a fourth reason, which I think is really important for much smaller organizations than countries.
And it's that the documents and organization rights form the voice of the organization's brand.
You know, every time we speak, we think about who we're speaking to and why we're speaking to them.
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