ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alan Siegel - Executive, simplicity guru
A branding expert and one of the leading authorities on business communication, Alan Siegel wants to put plain English into legal documents for government and business.

Why you should listen

Almost nothing so mundane renders as many beads of sweat on the foreheads of the citizens of the United States than the looming of April 15, the day of the dreaded yearly income tax mail-ins. But Alan Siegel says the better portion of that anxiety ain't necessarily the pay hit -- it's navigating the legendarily confusing jungle of jargon (and cluttered checkboxes) that constitutes the IRS's tax forms. It's more than a question of convenience to individuals, he emphasizes; as our society's systems get more complicated, the perplexing legal documents that make them run are becoming more of a drain, undermining our potential prosperity.

It's also a problem that's bigger than taxes; it's even bigger than the United States. Siegel, one of the world's foremost branding experts (he's founder and chairman of brand consultancy Siegel+Gale) notes that the world is suffering from an epidemic of legalese: fear of loopholes and lawsuits is forcing the world's attorneys, contract designers and EULA scribes to take their art form to historically impenetrable lows.

Better for us, Siegel has spent decades as a pioneer in the practice of simplification -- as he says, "bringing clarity to such daunting documents as insurance policies, bank loans, mutual fund agreements" and government communications. He hopes to transform the idea of document simplicity from a creative principle into an aggressive movement for change.

Siegel was recently director of a project for the IRS to simplify US income tax forms. He has written on the topic for the New York Times, Across the Board, and the National Law Journal.

See his simplified IRS form [pdf] >>

See his simplified credit card agreement [pdf] >>

More profile about the speaker
Alan Siegel | Speaker | TED.com
TED2010

Alan Siegel: Let's simplify legal jargon!

Alan Siegel: Lad os gøre jurasproget nemmere!

Filmed:
980,643 views

Selvangivelser, kreditaftaler, velfærdslove: De er fyldt med plidder pladder, og er uødigt lange, siger Alan Siegel. Han efterspørger simpelt og fornuftigt redesign - og almindeligt engelsk - så juridisk papirarbejde bliver forståeligt for resten af os.
- Executive, simplicity guru
A branding expert and one of the leading authorities on business communication, Alan Siegel wants to put plain English into legal documents for government and business. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
So, basicallyi bund og grund we have publicoffentlig leadersledere,
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Så, dybest set, har vi statsledere,
00:18
publicoffentlig officialstjenestemænd who are out of controlkontrollere;
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offentlige autoriteter som er ude af kontrol.
00:21
they are writingskrivning billssedler that are unintelligibleuforståelig,
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De laver love som er uforståelige.
00:23
and out of these billssedler are going to come
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Og ud af disse love kommer der
00:25
maybe 40,000 pagessider of regulationsregler, totalTotal complexitykompleksitet,
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måske 40.000 sider med regulationer, total kompleksitet,
00:30
whichhvilken has a dramaticallydramatisk negativenegativ impactpåvirkning on our life.
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som har en dramatisk negativ indvirkning på vores liv.
00:33
If you're a veteranveteran comingkommer back from IraqIrak or VietnamVietnam
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Hvis du er en veteran hjemvendt fra Irak eller Vietnam,
00:37
you faceansigt a blizzardBlizzard of paperworkpapirarbejde to get your benefitsfordele;
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møder du en storm af papirarbejde for at kunne få udbytte af dine goder.
00:41
if you're tryingforsøger to get a smalllille businessforretning loanlån,
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Hvis du prøver på at få et lille lån til din virksomhed,
00:43
you faceansigt a blizzardBlizzard of paperworkpapirarbejde.
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møder du en storm af papirarbejde.
00:45
What are we going to do about it? I definedefinere simplicityenkelhed
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Hvad skal vi gøre ved det? Jeg definerer simpelhed
00:47
as a meansmidler to achievingat opnå clarityklarhed,
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som det at opnå klarhed,
00:50
transparencygennemsigtighed and empathyempati,
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gennemsigtighed og empati.
00:52
buildingbygning humanitymenneskelighed into communicationskommunikation.
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At bygge menneskelighed ind i kommunikationen.
00:55
I've been simplifyingforenkle things for 30 yearsflere år.
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Jeg har har simplificeret ting gennem 30 år.
00:58
I come out of the advertisingreklame and designdesign businessforretning.
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Jeg kommer fra reklame- og designbranchen.
01:01
My focusfokus is understandingforståelse you people,
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Mit fokus er at forstå jer,
01:05
and how you interactinteragere with the governmentregering
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og hvordan I interagerer med regeringen
01:07
to get your benefitsfordele,
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for at få jeres tilskud,
01:09
how you interactinteragere with corporationsselskaber to decidebeslutte whomhvem you're going to do businessforretning with,
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hvordan I interagerer med virksomheder, for at bestemme hvem I vil handle med, og
01:12
and how you viewudsigt brandsmærker.
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hvordan I ser på brands.
01:15
So, very quicklyhurtigt, when PresidentFormand ObamaObama said,
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Så, meget hurtigt, da præsident Obama sagde,
01:19
"I don't see why we can't
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"Jeg forstår ikke, hvorfor vi ikke
01:21
have a one-pageén side, plainalmindeligt Englishengelsk consumerforbruger creditkredit agreementaftale."
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har en en-sidet forbrugerkreditaftale på almindeligt engelsk."
01:25
So, I lockedLåst myselfMig selv in a roomværelse,
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Så jeg låste mig inde i et rum
01:27
figuredregnede out the contentindhold,
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og udredede indholdet,
01:30
organizedorganiseret the documentdokument, and wroteskrev it in plainalmindeligt Englishengelsk.
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organiserede dokumentet og skrev det i almindeligt engelsk.
01:33
I've had this checkedkontrolleret by the two toptop
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Jeg fik det set efter i sømmene af de to bedste
01:35
consumerforbruger creditkredit lawyersadvokater in the countryLand.
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forbrugerkreditadvokater i landet
01:37
This is a realægte thing.
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Det her eksisterer.
01:39
Now, I wentgik one steptrin furtheryderligere and said,
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Nu er jeg så gået et skridt videre og spurgt,
01:42
"Why do we have to stickPind with the stodgystodgy lawyersadvokater
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"Hvorfor skal vi beholde de bundkedelige advokater
01:44
and just have a paperpapir documentdokument? Let's go onlineonline."
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og bare have et dokument på papir? Lad os lægge det på Internettet."
01:48
And manymange people
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Og nogle mennesker
01:50
mightmagt need help in computationberegning.
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har måske brug for hjælp med beregningerne.
01:52
WorkingArbejder with the HarvardHarvard BusinessBusiness SchoolSkole,
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Under samarbejde med Harvard Business School,
01:54
you'llvil du see this exampleeksempel when you talk about minimumminimum paymentbetaling:
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vil du se det her eksempel, når du taler om mindstebetaling.
01:58
If you spentbrugt 62 dollarsdollars for a mealmåltid,
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Hvis du bruger 341 kroner på et måltid,
02:01
the longerlængere you take to paybetale out that loanlån,
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jo længere du tager om at betale det lån tilbage
02:04
you see, over a periodperiode of time usingved brug af the minimumminimum paymentbetaling
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vil du se, at over en periode, hvor du bruger mindstebetaling,
02:06
it's 99 dollarsdollars and 17 centscent.
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vil det blive 545 kroner og 25 ører.
02:09
How about that? Do you think your bankbank is going to showat vise that to people?
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Hvad sker der? Tror du, at bankerne viser det her til folk?
02:12
But it's going to work. It's more effectiveeffektiv
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Men det kommer til at fungere. Det er mere effektivt
02:14
than just computationalberegningsmæssige aidshjælpemidler.
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end beregningsmæssig hjælp.
02:16
And what about termsbetingelser like
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Og hvad med termer som
02:18
"over the limitbegrænse"?
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"over grænsen"?
02:21
PerhapsMåske a stealthStealth thing.
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Måske en skjult ting.
02:23
DefineDefinere it in contextsammenhæng. Tell people what it meansmidler.
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Definer det i en kontekst. Fortæl folk hvad det betyder.
02:25
When you put it in plainalmindeligt Englishengelsk,
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Når du fortæller det på almindeligt engelsk,
02:27
you almostnæsten forcekraft the institutioninstitution
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tvinger du næsten institutionen
02:29
to give the people a way, a defaultstandard out of that,
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til at give folk en måde, en standard,
02:31
and not put themselvesdem selv at riskrisiko.
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så de ikke udsætter dem selv for risiko.
02:33
PlainAlmindelig Englishengelsk is about
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Almindeligt engelsk er til for at
02:36
changingskiftende the contentindhold.
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ændre indholdet.
02:38
And one of the things I'm mostmest proudstolt of
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Og en af de ting jeg er mest stolt af,
02:40
is this agreementaftale for IBMIBM.
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er denne aftale for IBM.
02:42
It's a gridgitter, it's a calendarkalender.
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Det er et net, det er en kalender.
02:44
At suchsådan and suchsådan a datedato, IBMIBM has responsibilitiesansvar,
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På den og den dato har IBM ansvar,
02:46
you have responsibilitiesansvar.
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og du har ansvar.
02:48
ReceivedModtaget very favorablypositivt by businessforretning.
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Modtaget meget positivt af virksomheder.
02:52
And there is some good newsnyheder to reportrapport todayi dag.
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Og der er gode nyheder at fortælle i dag.
02:54
EachHver yearår, one in 10 taxpayersskatteydere
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Hvert år modtager 1 ud af 10 skattebetalere
02:56
receivesmodtager a noticevarsel from the IRSIRS.
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en varsel fra IRS.
02:58
There are 200 millionmillion lettersbreve that go out.
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Der er mere end 200 millioner breve der bliver sendt.
03:01
RunningKører throughigennem this typicaltypisk letterbrev that they had,
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Ved gennemgang af dette typiske brev, som de havde,
03:04
I ranløb it throughigennem my simplicityenkelhed lablab,
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løb jeg det igennem mit simplificeringslaboratorium.
03:06
it's prettysmuk unintelligibleuforståelig.
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Det er ret uforståeligt.
03:08
All the partsdele of the documentdokument in redrød are not intelligibleforståelig.
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Alle dele af dokumentet markeret med rødt, er ikke forståeligt.
03:12
We lookedkigget at doing over 1,000 lettersbreve that coverdække over
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Vi så på muligheden for at lave 1.000 breve som dækker
03:14
70 percentprocent of theirderes transactionstransaktioner in plainalmindeligt Englishengelsk.
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70 procent af IRS-transaktioner på almindeligt engelsk.
03:17
They have been testedtestet in the laboratorylaboratorium.
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De er blevet testet i laboratoriet.
03:19
When I runløb it throughigennem my lablab,
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Når jeg løber det gennem mit laboratorium,
03:21
this heat-mappingvarme-kortlægning showsviser sig everything
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viser dette farveskema alt,
03:23
is intelligibleforståelig.
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hvad der er uforståeligt.
03:25
And the IRSIRS has introducedindført the programprogram.
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Og IRS har introduceret programmet.
03:27
(ApplauseBifald)
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(Applaus)
03:32
There are a couplepar of things going on right now
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Der foregår nogle ting lige nu,
03:35
that I want to bringtage med to your attentionopmærksomhed.
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som jeg vil lede jeres opmærksomhed imod.
03:37
There is a lot of discussiondiskussion now
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Der forgår en hel masse diskussioner lige nu
03:39
about a consumerforbruger financialfinansiel protectionbeskyttelse agencybureau,
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om et agentur for finansiel beskyttelse af forbrugere,
03:41
how to mandatemandat simplicityenkelhed.
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og hvordan man lovfører enkelthed.
03:43
We see all this complexitykompleksitet.
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Vi ser al den her kompleksitet.
03:45
It's incumbentetablerede upon us,
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Det er etableret i os
03:47
and this organizationorganisation, I believe,
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og denne organisation, tror jeg,
03:49
to make clarityklarhed, transparencygennemsigtighed
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for at skabe klarhed, gennemsigtighed
03:52
and empathyempati a nationalnational priorityprioritet.
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og empati op på en national prioritet.
03:55
There is no way that we should allowgive lov til governmentregering
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På ingen måde skal vi tillade regeringen
03:57
to communicatekommunikere the way they communicatekommunikere.
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at kommunikere på den måde, de gør.
03:59
There is no way we should do businessforretning
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Vi skal på ingen måde lave forretning
04:01
with companiesvirksomheder that have agreementsaftaler
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med virksomheder, der har aftaler
04:04
with stealthStealth provisionsbestemmelser and that are unintelligibleuforståelig.
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med skjulte provisioner og som er uforståelige.
04:06
So, how are we going to changelave om the worldverden?
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Så hvordan skal vi ændre verden?
04:08
Make clarityklarhed, transparencygennemsigtighed and simplicityenkelhed a nationalnational priorityprioritet.
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Gøre klarhed, gennemsigtighed og simplificering en prioritet på nationalt plan.
04:13
I thank you.
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Tak.
04:15
(ApplauseBifald)
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(Applaus)
Translated by Christine Hansen
Reviewed by Louise Frilund Petersen

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alan Siegel - Executive, simplicity guru
A branding expert and one of the leading authorities on business communication, Alan Siegel wants to put plain English into legal documents for government and business.

Why you should listen

Almost nothing so mundane renders as many beads of sweat on the foreheads of the citizens of the United States than the looming of April 15, the day of the dreaded yearly income tax mail-ins. But Alan Siegel says the better portion of that anxiety ain't necessarily the pay hit -- it's navigating the legendarily confusing jungle of jargon (and cluttered checkboxes) that constitutes the IRS's tax forms. It's more than a question of convenience to individuals, he emphasizes; as our society's systems get more complicated, the perplexing legal documents that make them run are becoming more of a drain, undermining our potential prosperity.

It's also a problem that's bigger than taxes; it's even bigger than the United States. Siegel, one of the world's foremost branding experts (he's founder and chairman of brand consultancy Siegel+Gale) notes that the world is suffering from an epidemic of legalese: fear of loopholes and lawsuits is forcing the world's attorneys, contract designers and EULA scribes to take their art form to historically impenetrable lows.

Better for us, Siegel has spent decades as a pioneer in the practice of simplification -- as he says, "bringing clarity to such daunting documents as insurance policies, bank loans, mutual fund agreements" and government communications. He hopes to transform the idea of document simplicity from a creative principle into an aggressive movement for change.

Siegel was recently director of a project for the IRS to simplify US income tax forms. He has written on the topic for the New York Times, Across the Board, and the National Law Journal.

See his simplified IRS form [pdf] >>

See his simplified credit card agreement [pdf] >>

More profile about the speaker
Alan Siegel | Speaker | TED.com