TED2010
Alan Siegel: Let's simplify legal jargon!
Alan Siegel: Simplifiquemos la jerga legal!
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Formularios de impuestos, acuerdos crediticios, legislación sanitaria: están plagados con galimatías, dice Alan Siegel, e incomprensiblemente largos. Él clama por un rediseño simple y sensato - en un lenguaje simple - para hacer el papelerío legal inteligible para el resto de nosotros.
Alan Siegel - Executive, simplicity guru
A branding expert and one of the leading authorities on business communication, Alan Siegel wants to put plain English into legal documents for government and business. Full bio
A branding expert and one of the leading authorities on business communication, Alan Siegel wants to put plain English into legal documents for government and business. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
So, basically we have public leaders,
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Bien, básicamente tenemos líderes públicos,
00:18
public officials who are out of control;
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oficiales públicos que están fuera de control.
00:21
they are writing bills that are unintelligible,
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Están redactando leyes que son incomprensibles.
00:23
and out of these bills are going to come
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Y de estas leyes van a derivar
00:25
maybe 40,000 pages of regulations, total complexity,
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tal vez 40 mil páginas de regulaciones, una complejidad total,
00:30
which has a dramatically negative impact on our life.
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que tiene un impacto dramáticamente negativo sobre nuestras vidas.
00:33
If you're a veteran coming back from Iraq or Vietnam
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Si eres un veterano regresando de Irak o Vietnam
00:37
you face a blizzard of paperwork to get your benefits;
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te enfrentas una tormenta de papeleo para obtener tus beneficios.
00:41
if you're trying to get a small business loan,
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Si estás intentando obtener un préstamo para una PYME,
00:43
you face a blizzard of paperwork.
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te enfrentas una tormenta de papeleo.
00:45
What are we going to do about it? I define simplicity
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¿Qué vamos a hacer al respecto? Yo defino la simplicidad
00:47
as a means to achieving clarity,
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como un medio para alcanzar la claridad,
00:50
transparency and empathy,
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transparencia y empatía,
00:52
building humanity into communications.
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introduciendo la humanidad en las comunicaciones.
00:55
I've been simplifying things for 30 years.
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He estado simplificando las cosas por treinta años.
00:58
I come out of the advertising and design business.
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Vengo del negocio de la publicidad y del diseño.
01:01
My focus is understanding you people,
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Mi enfoque es comprenderlos a ustedes,
01:05
and how you interact with the government
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y cómo ustedes interactúan con el gobierno
01:07
to get your benefits,
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para obtener sus beneficios,
01:09
how you interact with corporations to decide whom you're going to do business with,
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cómo interactúan con las corporaciones para decidir con quién van a hacer negocios,
01:12
and how you view brands.
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y cómo ustedes visualizan las marcas.
01:15
So, very quickly, when President Obama said,
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Así que, resumiendo, cuando el Presidente Obama dijo:
01:19
"I don't see why we can't
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"No entiendo por qué no podemos
01:21
have a one-page, plain English consumer credit agreement."
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tener un acuerdo crediticio para consumidores, de una página, en un lenguaje simple".
01:25
So, I locked myself in a room,
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Entonces me encerré en un cuarto,
01:27
figured out the content,
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descifré el contenido,
01:30
organized the document, and wrote it in plain English.
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organicé el documento y lo escribí en un lenguaje simple.
01:33
I've had this checked by the two top
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Lo hice revisar por los dos principales abogados
01:35
consumer credit lawyers in the country.
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en crédito al consumidor en el país.
01:37
This is a real thing.
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Esto es de verdad.
01:39
Now, I went one step further and said,
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Ahora, fui un paso más allá y dije:
01:42
"Why do we have to stick with the stodgy lawyers
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"¿Por qué tenemos que conformarnos con los tediosos abogados
01:44
and just have a paper document? Let's go online."
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y sólo tener un documento de papel? Pongámoslo en línea."
01:48
And many people
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Y algunas personas
01:50
might need help in computation.
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podrían necesitar ayuda en la computación.
01:52
Working with the Harvard Business School,
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Trabajando con la Escuela de Negocios de Harvard,
01:54
you'll see this example when you talk about minimum payment:
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verán este ejemplo cuando se habla del pago mínimo.
01:58
If you spent 62 dollars for a meal,
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Si gastas 62 dólares en una comida,
02:01
the longer you take to pay out that loan,
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mientras más tardes en pagar ese préstamo,
02:04
you see, over a period of time using the minimum payment
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verás, a lo largo de un período de tiempo usando el pago mínimo
02:06
it's 99 dollars and 17 cents.
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son 99 dólares y 17 centavos.
02:09
How about that? Do you think your bank is going to show that to people?
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¿Qué tal? ¿Creen que su banco le va a mostrar eso a la gente?
02:12
But it's going to work. It's more effective
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Pero va a funcionar. Es más efectivo
02:14
than just computational aids.
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que sólo la ayuda por computador.
02:16
And what about terms like
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Y ¿qué pasa con términos como
02:18
"over the limit"?
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"sobre el límite"?
02:21
Perhaps a stealth thing.
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Tal vez algo encubierto.
02:23
Define it in context. Tell people what it means.
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Defínanlo en un contexto. Díganle a la gente lo que significa.
02:25
When you put it in plain English,
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Cuando lo dices en un lenguaje simple
02:27
you almost force the institution
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prácticamente obligas a la institución
02:29
to give the people a way, a default out of that,
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a ofrecerle a las personas una alternativa, una salida de esa situación,
02:31
and not put themselves at risk.
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y no ponerse en riesgo a ellos mismos.
02:33
Plain English is about
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El lenguaje simple se trata
02:36
changing the content.
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de cambiar el contenido.
02:38
And one of the things I'm most proud of
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Y una de las cosas de las cuales me enorgullezco más
02:40
is this agreement for IBM.
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es este acuerdo para IBM.
02:42
It's a grid, it's a calendar.
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Es una cuadrícula, es un calendario.
02:44
At such and such a date, IBM has responsibilities,
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En tal y tal fecha, IBM tiene responsabilidades,
02:46
you have responsibilities.
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tú tienes responsabilidades.
02:48
Received very favorably by business.
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Recibida muy favorablemente por empresas.
02:52
And there is some good news to report today.
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Y hay una buena noticia que dar hoy.
02:54
Each year, one in 10 taxpayers
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Cada año, una de cada 10 personas que pagan impuestos
02:56
receives a notice from the IRS.
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recibe una notificación del IRS (Servicio de Impuestos Internos).
02:58
There are 200 million letters that go out.
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Se envían 200 millones de cartas.
03:01
Running through this typical letter that they had,
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Revisando la típica carta que tenían,
03:04
I ran it through my simplicity lab,
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la pasé por mi laboratorio de simplicidad,
03:06
it's pretty unintelligible.
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es bastante incomprensible.
03:08
All the parts of the document in red are not intelligible.
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Todas las secciones en rojo del documento no se entienden.
03:12
We looked at doing over 1,000 letters that cover
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Nos propusimos hacer más de mil cartas que cubren
03:14
70 percent of their transactions in plain English.
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el 70% de las transacciones del IRS en un lenguaje simple.
03:17
They have been tested in the laboratory.
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Fueron testeadas en el laboratorio.
03:19
When I run it through my lab,
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Cuando las paso por mi laboratorio
03:21
this heat-mapping shows everything
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este mapa de calor muestra todo
03:23
is intelligible.
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lo que es inteligible.
03:25
And the IRS has introduced the program.
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Y el IRS ha puesto en práctica el programa.
03:27
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
03:32
There are a couple of things going on right now
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Hay un par de cosas sucediendo ahora mismo
03:35
that I want to bring to your attention.
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que me gustaría traer a su atención.
03:37
There is a lot of discussion now
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Hay mucha discución ahora
03:39
about a consumer financial protection agency,
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sobre una agencia de protección financiera al consumidor,
03:41
how to mandate simplicity.
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y cómo hacer obligatoria la simplicidad.
03:43
We see all this complexity.
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Nosotros vemos toda esta complejidad.
03:45
It's incumbent upon us,
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Nos incumbe a nosotros.
03:47
and this organization, I believe,
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y a esta organicazión, creo yo,
03:49
to make clarity, transparency
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hacer de la claridad, la transparencia,
03:52
and empathy a national priority.
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y la empatía, una prioridad nacional.
03:55
There is no way that we should allow government
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De ninguna manera deberíamos permitir que el gobierno
03:57
to communicate the way they communicate.
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se comunique de la manera en que se comunica.
03:59
There is no way we should do business
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No hay razón por la cual debieramos hacer negocios
04:01
with companies that have agreements
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con compañías que tienen acuerdos
04:04
with stealth provisions and that are unintelligible.
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con provisiones encubiertas que son incomprensibles.
04:06
So, how are we going to change the world?
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Así que, ¿Cómo vamos a cambiar el mundo?
04:08
Make clarity, transparency and simplicity a national priority.
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Hagan de la claridad, la transparencia y la simplicidad una prioridad nacional.
04:13
I thank you.
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Les agradezco.
04:15
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alan Siegel - Executive, simplicity guruA branding expert and one of the leading authorities on business communication, Alan Siegel wants to put plain English into legal documents for government and business.
Why you should listen
Almost nothing so mundane renders as many beads of sweat on the foreheads of the citizens of the United States than the looming of April 15, the day of the dreaded yearly income tax mail-ins. But Alan Siegel says the better portion of that anxiety ain't necessarily the pay hit -- it's navigating the legendarily confusing jungle of jargon (and cluttered checkboxes) that constitutes the IRS's tax forms. It's more than a question of convenience to individuals, he emphasizes; as our society's systems get more complicated, the perplexing legal documents that make them run are becoming more of a drain, undermining our potential prosperity.
It's also a problem that's bigger than taxes; it's even bigger than the United States. Siegel, one of the world's foremost branding experts (he's founder and chairman of brand consultancy Siegel+Gale) notes that the world is suffering from an epidemic of legalese: fear of loopholes and lawsuits is forcing the world's attorneys, contract designers and EULA scribes to take their art form to historically impenetrable lows.
Better for us, Siegel has spent decades as a pioneer in the practice of simplification -- as he says, "bringing clarity to such daunting documents as insurance policies, bank loans, mutual fund agreements" and government communications. He hopes to transform the idea of document simplicity from a creative principle into an aggressive movement for change.
Siegel was recently director of a project for the IRS to simplify US income tax forms. He has written on the topic for the New York Times, Across the Board, and the National Law Journal.
Alan Siegel | Speaker | TED.com