To get your ideas on paper in plain English, it can be helpful to imagine you are at a dinner party. The idea is to sit back, close your eyes, relax and imagine that you are explaining the topic to friends at the party. They have asked you, ‘So what is this (idea, event, project, research, etc) all about?’
Although this is usually just a starting point – the words will need to be modified to fit your audience – it may help you to identify your main message and find a simple and direct way to express it:
The project provides landholders with printed guidelines and local-sourced seedlings to support increased planting of paddock trees for biodiversity and habitat provision.
can be ‘dinner partied’ to
We taught farmers the best way to plant trees in their paddocks to provide habitat for insects, birds and reptiles. We also gave them seedlings that would grow in their area.
Similarly, for scientific content:
There is widespread agreement that polyuria, polydipsia and polyphagia are among the most commonly seen clinical symptoms of diabetes mellitus, type I.
becomes, for an expert audience
Common clinical symptoms of type I diabetes mellitus include polyuria, polydipsia and polyphagia.
or, for a non-expert audience
People with type I diabetes may feel thirstier and hungrier than usual, and also need to pee more often.
