| 2011 |
Sydney, 14-22 May
Sydney Writers Festival
Rediscovering Rhetoric: the Craft of Persuasion with Neil James
In recent years international politics has highlighted the best and the worst in our public language. Neil James, executive director of the Plain English Foundation, revisits the ancient craft of persuasion by examining the use and abuse of argument, and what distinguishes a finely tuned sentence from the verbal garbage of gobbledygook. Spin Cycle
Does everything these days have to be spun? Former federal minister Lindsay Tanner, master chronicler of corporate Australia Trevor Sykes, and author, former advertising writer and ‘The Gruen Transfer’ regular Jane Caro explain how plain speaking is no longer in vogue. Wikilit
WikiLeaks has revealed much about the way government and business communicates when no-one is watching. Chair Janine Perrett gets author Neil James, science and technology writer James Gleick and former diplomat (who was himself “WikiLeaked”) Richard Woolcott to tell us how information technology might now shape communications in a post-Wiki era, and what this might mean for democracy. Moving Forward to Turn Back (the Boats)
Has our political discourse become just one big clichéd sound byte repeated ad nauseum until we all want to run screaming from the country? AA Gill, Mike Carlton and Meredith Burgmann discuss with chair Neil James. |
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| 2010 |
Lisbon Portugal, 12-14 November
Clarity
Strengthening plain language: public benefit and professional practice
Speakers from 22 countries presented case studies, master classes, and seminars on communicating clearly with the public. Sydney, 18-22 May
Sydney Writers' Festival
Speaketh so pleyne: the challenge of plain English with Neil James
What exactly is plain English and who should be using it?
Interrogating Twitter
What are texting, email and Twitter doing to the quality of our writing?
Neil James, Ruth Wajnryb, David Levithan and John Freeman.
Did business-speak cause the GFC?
David Wessel, Ross Garnaut, Ross Gittins and Neil James dissect the mysteries
of 'business speak'.
Programmatic specificity we can believe in
Christopher Hitchens, Nathan Rees and Annabel Crabb argue the importance of
language to democracy. Chaired by Neil James. |
| 2009 |
Sydney 15-17 October
PLAIN 2009
7th International PLAIN Language Conference
Hosted by the Plain English Foundation.
Sydney, 23-24 May
Sydney Writers' Festival
The author's right to speak
Has public and democratic responsibility been compromised?
Monica Ali, Richard Flanagan, Neil James and David Williamson discuss the politics of
freedom of expression with chair Rosie Scott.
Much ado about grammar
Neil James, Mark Tredinnick, Michael Meehan and Dominic Knight debate
whether knowing your grammar is as essential as it once was with chair Eva Gold.
They’ll also explore whether critical literacy is now more important than an
old-fashioned grammatical method.
| Mexico, 20-23 November |
Clarity International conference
Setting the standard: first steps towards a plain language profession
Panel session with Neil James (Australia), Lynda Harris (NZ),
Helena Englund (Sweden), Annetta Cheek (USA) and Karen Schriver (USA).
Moderated by Mark Adler (UK). |
| Sydney, 23-24 May |
| | | Sydney Writers' Festival
Reviving Rhetoric: Neil James and James O’Loghlin in Conversation
We tossed grammar and rhetoric out of the school curriculum 30 years ago, and the standards of our public language seem to have declined markedly. Neil James, author of Writing at Work, talks with James O’Loghlin, author of Umm... A Complete Guide to Public Speaking, about the need to revive the classical crafts of communication.
The Lost Art of Oratory
The recent apology in federal parliament highlighted the power of public oratory to inspire and unite a community. Yet public language in Australia tends towards bloodless officialese more than prose of passion. Former politicians Bob Carr and Margaret Reynolds join former speech writers Graham Freudenberg and Lucinda Holdforth to discuss the potential for an Australian oratory. Chaired by Neil James, executive director of the Plain English Foundation.
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| Amsterdam, Netherlands, 11-14 October |
| | | 6th International PLAIN Language Conference
Neil James: Plenary paper – The Amsterdam challenge: building a plain language profession.
Peta Spear: workshop – Is plain English relevant to literature? Far more than you think!
Neil James: workshop – Seeing the wood and the trees: structure mapping for longer documents.
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| Sydney: 1-2 June |
| | | Sydney Writers' Festival
Plain English Foundation panel - The future of English
Vikram Chandra, Steven Hall, Pam Peters and Neil James explore the forces that are shaping the language of the future. |
| | | Plain English Foundation panel — The ethics of language
David Marr, Margaret Somerville, Mary Zournazi and Neil James discuss the importance and the possibility of an ethics of language. |
| Sydney: 1 December |
| | | Stop! Revive! Survive! English Teachers' Association Annual Conference
Neil James and Wayne Sawyer forum discussion: Language — DoublePlus (Un)Good: teaching language consciously. |
| Wellington, New Zealand: 6 October |
| | | WriteMark Plain English Conference Neil James: Keynote address — Raising the standards: what makes English plain? Workshop — Will it work? Measuring effective writing. |
| Sydney: 28 May |
| | | Sydney Writers' Festival
Plain English Foundation panel — The language of power
Kate Grenville, Hsu-Ming Teo and Neil James discuss how the powerful
manipulate language. Chaired by Professor Peter Butt. |
| 2005 |
| Washington D.C., USA: November |
| | | Plain Language Conference: Adding up the benefits
Neil James: Selling cultural change: using performance indicators on the road to plain language. |
Sydney: September |
| | | Plain English Foundation and the University of Sydney Conference What is the New Rhetoric? |
| Boulogne sur Mer, France: July |
| | | Clarity International Conference
Plain Language Around the World: panel session. Neil James: Plain English in Australia. Convened by Professor Peter Butt. |
Sydney: May |
| | | Sydney Writers' Festival
Plain English Foundation panel — Political speak: double talk vs plain English.
NSW Attorney-General Bob Debus, ABC broadcaster Richard Glover, author Linda Jaivin, and Associate Professor Catharine Lumby. Chaired by Neil James. |
| 2004 |
Sydney: October |
| | Technical Communicators' Conference
Plain English: the next generation, paper by Neil James. |
Sydney: July |
| | The Australian Style Council
Back to life: resuscitating public language, annual conference keynote address by Neil James. |
Sydney: May |
| | Sydney Writers' Festival
Plain English Foundation panel — Diseased English: can it be cured?
Alex Buzo, Neil James, Amanda Lohrey, Ruth Wajnryb. Chaired by Professor Elizabeth Webby. |