Communicating Clearly with the “General Public”
As planners, we have a unique challenge. We must communicate our work to decision makers, but also to other experts, property owners, and the vast, diverse, undefined “general public.”
But who is the general public? Our work affects so many people that we can’t meet face-to-face as we proceed – and yet, we are expected to reflect their interests, gather their ideas, and encourage their support. So how do we write our reports, plans, letters, and other standard documents to build that relationship? What do we need them to know? And what do they want us to share so they can participate in the decisions that have an influence on their communities?
The most complex group of readers we have is the “general public.” Something you write today could end up being read by thousands, or even millions (!) of people online. Each set of readers has its own interests and needs. It’s easy to forget this – and it can be intimidating! After all, once you set your ideas down in print, they can be misinterpreted and misunderstood. Taking some time to identify who your readers are will go a long way to advancing the public interest in our communities.
Look at the case of Ontario Place in Toronto. This is a large publicly-owned waterfront site – i.e., prime real estate. Multiple redevelopment ideas have been put forward, including the current, most controversial, proposal. But until recently, when the public wanted to know what was being considered or recommended, they only had the City’s council reports to rely on. And we all know what those look like!
This report was not written for the public. It was written for elected councillors. To keep the general public informed, a different approach is needed.
Even as someone who is familiar with this type of report, I had to make an effort to read it, to make sure it would be relevant as an example here. Why? It’s not clear at a glance what would be important to me, as a resident. The recommendation isn’t on the first page, the paragraphs are walls of text, and there is a lot of jargon. I’d have to study it and take notes to remember everything being thrown at me. In a nutshell, it’s hard to find what’s important, understand it, and use it.
Imagine you’re a resident of a nearby community that visits this site to walk the dog, get some exercise, or relax. Or that you’re someone who visited Ontario Place back in ’77 and have fond childhood memories of what it once was (apologies if you can’t shake the theme song). Maybe you’re just concerned about the future of public space in this rapidly growing urban centre and have something to contribute.
Now imagine that you’re someone who has never visited City Hall or studied civics, that you aren’t familiar with the local planning process, don’t have a university degree, or don’t have free time to spend making sense of this.
What would this report tell you? The message seems to be: “Thanks, we’ve got this – maybe come back when it’s done.” If you’re part of a community group that has their local councillor on speed dial, you might continue on to study the full submission, devoting your personal time to figure out what this plan means for you and the people you care about. Most people won’t.
This is not to say that planners never engage the public effectively. I’ve been in plenty of public meetings where the planners do an amazing job of explaining everything, verbally translating the content of their reports or slides. But too often, the way we write about proposals (out of habit? tradition?) excludes people from the process. That’s a shame, because as planners we’re expected to act in the public interest. We might reach different conclusions about the best course of action, depending on where we work and the project we’re advancing, but without writing with the general public in mind, we’re making our own jobs more difficult, and missing opportunities to build understanding of what we do.
As a planner, your job is not just to manage the technical aspect of your work: you need to communicate it to have a positive impact on your community. We all have a right to understand, particularly those projects that have an impact on how and where we live. Most of all, community support is often crucial for the success of our projects. You can help your reader – and yourself – by taking time to identify and write for them.
So what do you do to communicate with the general public?
1. Figure out who your general public is
First, talk to people. Go visit the site. See who’s there and what they’re doing. Don’t be afraid to ask them what they think.
Talk to your colleagues, including those in different departments or fields. They might be working in parallel and have insights to share.
Check out local Facebook groups and see what people are saying. Of course, social media is not an accurate reflection of the mindset of a community, but it can help you get started in understanding local concerns.
Do a Google search and see if there are active community groups or what the local business improvement association has to say. Do a media scan.
Look up who put forward the application and learn a bit about who they are and what their approach is to similar projects. How did people respond?
Do some reconnaissance. Look up the old files for similar, or neighbouring sites. Who sent in emails or letters? What were they concerned about?
2. Focus on what is relevant to them
Not every document can, or should be, written for everyone. But when you know that a project is going to attract interest and attention, the “general public” should become less general as you write. It’s by getting to know who they are and what’s important to them that you’ll be able to advance your project and meet your goals.
Summarize what you found. Who’s involved, or wants to be? What matters most to them?
We all have templates to work from, but ask yourself if the one you’re using will help your efforts. If your main job involves preparing a council report, and your city clerk is partial to the format, propose that a one page summary be posted alongside the report when it goes online with the meeting minutes. This should focus on the recommendations, the status of the process, and where the reader can share their perspective or find more information. Anyone who wants to go deep can still read the report.
Use the right visual elements to help explain key concepts. These should complement – or could even replace – a lot of dense text.
In Canada, literacy rates are surprisingly low. Use plain language: words and phrases that are clear and appropriate for your readers. Even the experts want to be able to quickly and easily find, understand, and use your documents. Look out for technical terms that you can either replace or explain.
Check your draft for readability. Word has a built-in Flesch-Kincaid test that will give you a sense of its grade level. Most planning documents are written to a university-educated reader: this does not help the general reader! Also, keep in mind that readability tests do not measure how accessible or inclusive your document is – but it can give you a sense of how complex it is and what you need to change to communicate effectively with your readers.
Identifying and understanding who your reader is, and writing to them, is crucial. As planners, we tend to write to each other; we assume that our audience is mostly specialists or policy makers. We forget that most of our readers, especially members of the public, don’t have the same information we do about our projects. They haven’t devoted weeks and months to the technical analysis, developing a sound planning rationale. They may care about the proposal, but don’t necessarily have the time or energy to invest in doing the homework required to participate. They’re busy - and who isn’t?!
Questions for members:
What’s your experience in writing for the “general public?” What have you found gets a great response?
If you’re already writing in clear, effective formats, what did you start doing differently and why?
Which of these techniques are most interesting or useful? I can dedicate an entire newsletter to any one of them if you want to know more!
Still on the fence about this Club?
That’s ok! Just give it a bit of time. Over the next few weeks, you’ll see more long form posts, interviews with some of the best communicators in the planning world, and lots of questions and opportunities to comment. I didn’t launch this club simply for you to ‘like’ or confirm the ideas and techniques I highlight here. I want us to be able to explore and test them together!
New ways of doing things take time. Sometimes all you can do is put a great idea out there and see where it goes. By building a community around our work, we can sharpen our skills and give each other a boost. I hope that together we can shape the profession – and our communities – through improved communication with all of our readers.
Before founding Scribe Technical and joining Substack, I worked in planning for almost 20 years. Then I discovered technical communications – and how the best practices of each field can be merged. I’m also a huge advocate for plain language. Now, as an editor who works with planners and other urbanists every day, I’m on a mission to help all of us share our expertise, and help the public understand the value our work brings to our communities and cities.