Plain Language Rewrite Skill
Plain language has a bad reputation because it's done badly — "simplifying" that quietly drops the qualifiers, rounds the numbers, and turns precise claims into vibes. Done right, it's a translation with a fidelity guarantee: every fact, number, condition, and hedge in the original survives; what changes is the packaging — sentence length, word choice, structure, and the jargon triage (most terms translate; some are load-bearing and get kept-and-defined instead, because renaming a term of art creates confusion downstream). The test is a reader who knows nothing and a checker who knows everything, both satisfied.
What This Skill Produces
- The rewrite — the same content at the target reading level, structured for the new reader
- The fidelity check — facts/numbers/qualifiers in original vs. rewrite, diffed to zero loss
- The jargon ledger — each term: translated (to what) / kept-and-defined (why it's load-bearing)
- The audience calibration — what the target reader knows, and the one-notch rule applied
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
- The text — verbatim; translation works on actual sentences
- The audience, concretely — "customers who don't know insurance" beats "general public"; the rewrite calibrates to what they already know, and one text can't serve experts and novices simultaneously (say so when asked to)
- The load-bearing terms — which jargon is contractual, regulatory, or searchable-by-the-reader (those get kept-and-defined; renaming "deductible" to "your share" helps nobody who then reads their policy)
- The stakes — legal/medical/financial texts keep their hedges verbatim-in-meaning; marketing texts have more freedom — the fidelity bar scales up with stakes
Framework: The Translation Rules
- Fidelity is the contract: before rewriting, extract the original's claims list (facts, numbers, conditions, hedges); after, diff the rewrite against it. "Usually," "up to," and "unless" are content, not decoration — a plain rewrite that drops them is a different document with better fonts.
- The jargon triage, not the jargon purge: each term gets a verdict — translate (internal shorthand, latinate padding: "utilize"→"use", "prior to"→"before") or keep-and-define (terms of art the reader will meet again: "your deductible — the amount you pay before insurance starts paying"). The ledger records both, because reviewers will ask.
- Sentence surgery before word surgery: the biggest readability gains are structural — one idea per sentence, front-loaded subjects, lists for parallel items, 20-ish words average. Swapping words inside 60-word sentences polishes the unreadable.
- Calibrate one notch below the audience's floor: write to slightly simpler than the audience needs — comprehension costs nothing extra for strong readers, and the weakest reader in the audience is the one the text exists to reach. But never condescend in tone: plain is respectful; simplified-with-a-pat-on-the-head is not.
- The two-reader test: a target-audience reader retells the content correctly (comprehension) AND a subject-matter expert confirms nothing became false (fidelity). Passing one test is easy; the skill is passing both, and the output states both results.
Output Format
Plain Rewrite: [text] — for [audience]
The Rewrite
[The translated text, structured for the reader]
Fidelity Check
| Original claim/number/qualifier |
Where it survives in the rewrite |
| [Zero-loss demonstrated, or the flagged intentional cuts with reasons] |
|
Jargon Ledger
The Two-Reader Result
[Comprehension: retellable? · Fidelity: expert-clean? · the stakes note for legal/medical texts: hedges preserved verbatim-in-meaning]
Quality Checks
Anti-Patterns
1---2name: plain-language-rewrite3description: Rewrite jargon-dense text into plain language without losing precision — the translation pass that keeps every fact and qualifier, the jargon triage (terms to replace, terms to keep-and-define), and the reading-level honesty for the actual audience. Use when asked make this readable, translate this for non-experts, de-jargon this announcement, or rewrite this so my parents/customers/new hires understand it. Produces the rewrite with a fidelity check, the jargon ledger, and the kept-terms glossary line.4---5
6# Plain Language Rewrite Skill
7
8Plain language has a bad reputation because it's done badly — "simplifying" that quietly drops the qualifiers, rounds the numbers, and turns precise claims into vibes. Done right, it's a *translation* with a fidelity guarantee: every fact, number, condition, and hedge in the original survives; what changes is the packaging — sentence length, word choice, structure, and the jargon triage (most terms translate; some are load-bearing and get kept-and-defined instead, because renaming a term of art creates confusion downstream). The test is a reader who knows nothing and a checker who knows everything, both satisfied.
9
10## What This Skill Produces
11
12- **The rewrite** — the same content at the target reading level, structured for the new reader
13- **The fidelity check** — facts/numbers/qualifiers in original vs. rewrite, diffed to zero loss
14- **The jargon ledger** — each term: translated (to what) / kept-and-defined (why it's load-bearing)
15- **The audience calibration** — what the target reader knows, and the one-notch rule applied
16
17## Required Inputs
18
19Ask for these if not provided:
20- **The text** — verbatim; translation works on actual sentences
21- **The audience, concretely** — "customers who don't know insurance" beats "general public"; the rewrite calibrates to what *they* already know, and one text can't serve experts and novices simultaneously (say so when asked to)
22- **The load-bearing terms** — which jargon is contractual, regulatory, or searchable-by-the-reader (those get kept-and-defined; renaming "deductible" to "your share" helps nobody who then reads their policy)
23- **The stakes** — legal/medical/financial texts keep their hedges verbatim-in-meaning; marketing texts have more freedom — the fidelity bar scales up with stakes
24
25## Framework: The Translation Rules
26
271. **Fidelity is the contract:** before rewriting, extract the original's claims list (facts, numbers, conditions, hedges); after, diff the rewrite against it. "Usually," "up to," and "unless" are content, not decoration — a plain rewrite that drops them is a *different document* with better fonts.
282. **The jargon triage, not the jargon purge:** each term gets a verdict — *translate* (internal shorthand, latinate padding: "utilize"→"use", "prior to"→"before") or *keep-and-define* (terms of art the reader will meet again: "your deductible — the amount you pay before insurance starts paying"). The ledger records both, because reviewers will ask.
293. **Sentence surgery before word surgery:** the biggest readability gains are structural — one idea per sentence, front-loaded subjects, lists for parallel items, 20-ish words average. Swapping words inside 60-word sentences polishes the unreadable.
304. **Calibrate one notch below the audience's floor:** write to slightly *simpler* than the audience needs — comprehension costs nothing extra for strong readers, and the weakest reader in the audience is the one the text exists to reach. But never condescend in tone: plain is respectful; simplified-with-a-pat-on-the-head is not.
315. **The two-reader test:** a target-audience reader retells the content correctly (comprehension) AND a subject-matter expert confirms nothing became false (fidelity). Passing one test is easy; the skill is passing both, and the output states both results.
32
33## Output Format
34
35# Plain Rewrite: [text] — for [audience]
36
37## The Rewrite
38[The translated text, structured for the reader]
39
40## Fidelity Check
41| Original claim/number/qualifier | Where it survives in the rewrite |
42|---|---|
43[Zero-loss demonstrated, or the flagged intentional cuts with reasons]
44
45## Jargon Ledger
46| Term | Verdict | Rendered as |
47|---|---|---|
48
49## The Two-Reader Result
50[Comprehension: retellable? · Fidelity: expert-clean? · the stakes note for legal/medical texts: hedges preserved verbatim-in-meaning]
51
52## Quality Checks
53
54- [ ] The claims list was extracted before rewriting and diffed after
55- [ ] Every qualifier survives — no "usually" became "always"
56- [ ] Load-bearing terms were kept-and-defined, not renamed
57- [ ] Sentence structure did the heavy lifting before word swaps
58- [ ] Both readers pass: the novice retells it; the expert signs it
59
60## Anti-Patterns
61
62- [ ] Do not simplify by deletion — dropped hedges are the classic plain-language malpractice
63- [ ] Do not rename terms of art — the reader meets "deductible" again five minutes later
64- [ ] Do not write down at the audience — plain and respectful are the same register
65- [ ] Do not serve two audiences with one text — name the split when asked to
66- [ ] Do not skip the expert pass on high-stakes text — readable-but-wrong is the worst outcome on the board
Mohit Aggarwal