Recommendations
Recommendations
During the COVID-19 restrictions on international travel, ClarifyNow services continue remotely, including interactive training using Zoom or your own meeting software.
“Daphne provided four sessions of training for us in which she dealt with key techniques to help people write clearly. Her passion and enthusiasm for the subject shone through and the team responded well to her suggestions. The techniques were exactly what was needed to help a legal team write for a wider audience and I will be encouraging them to continue to put them into practice.”
“Daphne’s course was tailored to our needs and very thorough. It was delivered in an engaging style, never with a dull moment!”
“Daphne did an amazing job for us, a delight to work with. She turned our monstrous and antiquated Terms and Conditions into a document to be proud of. They are now well structured and easy to read. Legal documents can indeed be written in plain English!”
“I took Daphne’s course as a trainee solicitor and it was some of the most valuable training I have ever received. I have been complimented on my writing throughout my career by both lawyers and, more importantly, non lawyers. Being able to communicate in clear plain English is a skill all lawyers, courts and clients will ultimately benefit from greatly. It contributes to successful negotiation, good commercial relationships as well as effective dispute resolution.”
“Through enthusiasm, technical excellence, and bold challenge Daphne has inspired a whole staff team.
Commissioned simply to deliver some discrete training, she became a core part of an emerging culture change, well beyond our expectations. Throughout meetings and discussions we now hear ‘would Daphne approve?’ and ‘what would Daphne do?’. We’ve been both sternly and kindly shown a path to a better future – where communication is clear, concise and easy to understand. Where simple rules assist this, without complex discussions of grammar which can scare some of us!
Daphne’s background as a barrister doubtless helped her cross examination of our current approaches and her credibility in an environment where the issues we are communicating are complex. After the initial commission for training, we worked very flexibly as she or our team spotted other opportunities to improve the clarity of our communication.
Our recommendation would be unequivocal – if you want to improve how you or your whole organisation communicate, you have to have Daphne on the list of people you at least have an initial conversation with. You may miss a huge opportunity if you don’t.”
“I wanted to say how useful your training has been the last few months! It was like a light clicked on at the back of my head – I am now questioning everything I write! Especially legal/complaints jargon – as far as possible I just cut all this out now.”
“Daphne acted with admirable flexibility and alacrity in turning a planned workshop in person for junior litigators on contract principles into three shorter Zoom webinars focused on issues of particular relevance to the Covid-19 pandemic. Impressive can-do attitude and response to our needs.”
“I have just finished reading Clarity for Lawyers. This book should be compulsory reading for anyone entering the legal profession!”
“The Effective Writing training Daphne delivered to our trainees was always received well. The trainees found her clear and engaging. They specifically appreciated the analysis of their own writing as well as the more general tips she gave for improvement.”
“I attended the Effective Writing course for the 2nd time and I was impressed by how much I continued to learn. I was reminded of techniques that I have not implemented yet, and how they could enhance my writing. Daphne is a dynamic presenter and she made the session engaging. It was great that we could have lots of discussion and share live examples from our work. Daphne makes the learning fun!”
“Our organization conducted the “Effective editing” training for the first time. Attendees were very pleased with this course. Daphne is a great presenter, with years of experience. She explains the concepts in a practical manner, and used examples from our work to show attendees how the techniques can make the writing clearer, and more effective. The focus on how to provide constructive feedback rather than spend time marking up detailed changes was a great learning for our Editors. This training will help us continue to spread good practice through-out the team. Thank you Daphne!”
“Daphne gave us detailed analytical feedback on our website text and layout. Her comments were practical and helped us significantly to improve the site and our communication style.”
“Daphne started and drove the plain language programme at SNR Denton. She understands training and good intentions are not enough to entrench good drafting habits. Her efforts bridged the gulf between good intentions and tangible, lasting progress at our firm. Her enthusiasm is an inspiration.”
“Daphne presented a number of successful sessions for our PSLs on editing client publications. She is an engaging speaker and her background as a barrister, PSL and plain English nut means that she has valuable insights in this area, and make her a very credible and knowledgeable presenter on the topic. Daphne tailored the sessions perfectly for our needs and they received excellent feedback from our PSLs.
Perhaps the best endorsement, though, is that we have already seen some of Daphne’s helpful tips and suggestions for improvement making their way into our client publications. We would certainly use her again in future sessions.”
“Working with Daphne was every bit as simple as the text of our engagement letter once she’d edited it.”
“Regarding our standard terms: everybody that has seen the plain language version has been impressed and very complimentary – both lawyers and subject matter experts such as tax, credit management and international trade compliance.”
“I have attended a number of writing courses but this was by far the best. This was because it felt practical, included manageable tips and because Daphne was so well prepared and engaging. I highly recommend Daphne as an instructor. Everyone can benefit from a course like this!”
“I attended one of Daphne’s workshops on effective writing skills for lawyers back in March 2013. It remains the best writing/editing workshop I’ve attended – and I’ve been to quite a few. Daphne is an extremely knowledgeable and engaging trainer and I still refer back to her training materials from time to time. She’s always been around to answer follow-up queries as well, which I hugely appreciate.”
“Daphne is a highly skilled and knowledgeable trainer with a clear and engaging style. At the request of a client, I recently attended a short course Daphne ran on plain English writing for professionals. The course was dynamic, informative, and entertaining – an excellent combination. Daphne’s passion for plain English and good communication shines through. For example, she answers questions clearly, even when they’re not posed clearly! Daphne has a legal background, and specialises in clarifying legal language. However, I’m sure she could turn her hand to improving people’s writing in almost any field. I heartily recommend Daphne to anyone who needs training in plain English or clear writing skills.”
“A fantastic course: helpful, insightful and enjoyable. The whole of chambers took part and all of the barristers were full of praise. I highly recommend the course to anyone who wants to learn the highest standards of written advocacy in a practical, intelligent and fun way.”
“It is now two years or so since you came to train us to use plain English. My documents have halved in length and doubled in clarity. I thus get work done more quickly and my readers understand my texts better. This is important as we publish our decisions on the organisation’s website and they have to be clear for general readers. As we all use StyleWriter, I can also understand colleagues’ decisions in subject areas I do not normally cover. This training is the most useful I have had in the last ten years of my professional life.”
“It was an excellent course, thanks to Daphne” – Delegate from the DIFC Court Service
“The instructor’s explanation was fantastic. She used very good examples to elaborate the issues” – Delegate from Abdi Ibrahim Pharmaceuticals
“A very good course and necessary for anyone involved in the contracting process” – Delegate from Total E&P Nigeria
“This is the most valuable course I’ve ever been to” – Delegate from Vinci Construction Grands Projets
“Daphne is a highly professional lawyer and a brilliant tutor who generously shares her knowledge in an easy to understand manner.”
“Daphne gave us detailed feedback on our website text. Her comments were very constructive and have helped us improve the website, steering our attention to issues we had not considered previously. We found her report straightforward, refreshing and encouraging, and we are now implementing her suggestions.”
“I recently attended a plain English training session which Daphne ran at OC. Her training was thorough, her style interesting and the session was hugely informative. I came away with some very useful ideas and tips as to how to make my writing clearer and more accessible. Daphne showed just how important it is to use plain English in legal (and non-legal) writing and she is clearly passionate about the subject matter.”
“Thank you, Daphne. You gave me inspiration and strength to go on with law of contract. These are not just mere words of gratitude, I mean it. You showed me that there is still light in the end of the tunnel and that there is a cohesion in the system of the English law of contract.”
“Very happy for you to give me as a reference. I think you are under-selling the value of the work you did with us in setting out what a good decision statement should cover.”
“I realised that my scribbled note of feedback did not do justice to what I think was one of the best and most relevant training courses I have been on for some time. Your style was light and you dealt with questions authoritatively and well. The paperwork was clear as was the thrust of what you did and it was all very relevant to the ‘day job’. You had an understanding of what we were trying to do and helped us see the things we all do wrong to stop us achieving that. All in all not a minute wasted. All I have to do is put it into practice …”
“I’ve heard nothing but good things about the sessions you did in York. You have really won people’s hearts and minds and made a terrific impression. Thank you. It’s onward and upward from here!”
“Plain Language training for all our lawyers was one of the most successful and popular programmes we ran. It improved the quality of our work and benefited clients. Daphne was central to the development of the programme and its delivery. Because of her work the firm gave clearer legal advice.”
“No need for me to say I am sure but as you will have gathered everyone found the day fantastically beneficial, enjoyable and challenging on all sorts of levels and most of it was down to your very adept skills of training which I suppose facilitate the maximum efficient uptake and transfer of relevant knowledge and experience from and between all participants rather than the traditional lecturing approach.”
“Daphne’s interactive workshop on “Writing to Persuade” for Shell Legal in London was enthusiastically received. The feedback was exceptionally good, with particularly high marks for clarity, interest and knowledge of her subject. Participants praised her engaging, clear and concise style and the way she enabled everyone to contribute. We are happy to recommend her as a trainer for this subject.”
“I worked with Daphne at a previous firm and found her to be the most committed of plain English proponents. She was an absolute pleasure to work with: committed, passionate about her specialism and with a clear talent for delivering training in a clear and easy-to-understand way.”
If you have feedback on our services that you haven’t yet sent, please do let us know. What results have you seen since we last spoke? What are you happiest about? What would you like to change?
