TED2010
Alan Siegel: Let's simplify legal jargon!
Alan Siegel: Haideti sa simplificam jargonul juridic!
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Formulare de impozit, contracte de credit, legislatia asigurarilor de sanatate: sunt pline de bolboroseli, spune Alan Siegel, si au si o lungime care le face de neinteles. El cheama la simplificarea si redefinirea – intr-o engleza uzuala – a termenilor folositi in jargonul juridic pentru a-i face inteligibili pentru noi, ceilalti.
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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Pe scurt, avem lideri publici
00:18
public officials who are out of control;
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si oficiali care sunt in afara controlului.
00:21
they are writing bills that are unintelligible,
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Ei redacteaza legi care sunt neinteligibile.
00:23
and out of these bills are going to come
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Si din aceste legi urmeaza sa iasa
00:25
maybe 40,000 pages of regulations, total complexity,
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cam 40.000 de pagini de reglementari de mare complexitate,
00:30
which has a dramatically negative impact on our life.
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care au un impact negativ dramatic asupra vietii noastre.
00:33
If you're a veteran coming back from Iraq or Vietnam
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Daca esti un veteran care se intoarce din Irak sau din Vietnam
00:37
you face a blizzard of paperwork to get your benefits;
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trebuie sa infrunti o furtuna de hartogarie pentru a-ti capata drepturile si beneficiile.
00:41
if you're trying to get a small business loan,
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Daca incerci sa obtii un mic imprumut pentru afaceri
00:43
you face a blizzard of paperwork.
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esti expus unei furtuni de hartogarie.
00:45
What are we going to do about it? I define simplicity
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Ce am putea face in privinta aceasta? As defini simplitatea
00:47
as a means to achieving clarity,
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ca mijlocul de dobandire a claritatii,
00:50
transparency and empathy,
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transparentei si empatiei,
00:52
building humanity into communications.
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si de promovare a umanitatii in comunicare.
00:55
I've been simplifying things for 30 years.
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Timp de 30 de ani m-am ocupat de simplificarea lucrurilor.
00:58
I come out of the advertising and design business.
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Provin din mediul de afaceri gen publicitate si design.
01:01
My focus is understanding you people,
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Ma preocupa sa inteleg oamenii, sa va inteleg pe voi
01:05
and how you interact with the government
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si felul in care interactionati cu guvernul
01:07
to get your benefits,
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pentru a va obtine beneficiile,
01:09
how you interact with corporations to decide whom you're going to do business with,
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cum interactionati cu corporatiile pentru a decide cu cine sa faceti afaceri,
01:12
and how you view brands.
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si ce impresie aveti despre anumite brand-uri.
01:15
So, very quickly, when President Obama said,
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Asadar, foarte pe scurt, cand presedintele Obama a spus
01:19
"I don't see why we can't
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“Nu vad de ce n-am putea avea
01:21
have a one-page, plain English consumer credit agreement."
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un contract de credit pentru consum de o pagina intr-o engleza obisnuita”,
01:25
So, I locked myself in a room,
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m-am incuiat intr-o camera
01:27
figured out the content,
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am descifrat continutul,
01:30
organized the document, and wrote it in plain English.
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am organizat documentul si apoi l-am scris intr-o engleza obisnuita.
01:33
I've had this checked by the two top
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Am rugat doi vestiti avocati de credite de consum din tara
01:35
consumer credit lawyers in the country.
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sa verifice documentul.
01:37
This is a real thing.
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E un fapt real.
01:39
Now, I went one step further and said,
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Ei bine, am mers un pas mai departe si mi-am spus
01:42
"Why do we have to stick with the stodgy lawyers
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“De ce trebuie sa ne asezam langa avocati plicticosi
01:44
and just have a paper document? Let's go online."
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numai pentru a obtine un document de hartie? Haideti sa o facem online."
01:48
And many people
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Si unele persoane
01:50
might need help in computation.
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s-ar putea sa aiba nevoie de ajutor la calcule.
01:52
Working with the Harvard Business School,
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Lucrand cu oameni de la Scoala de Afaceri de la Harvard,
01:54
you'll see this example when you talk about minimum payment:
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veti intelege acest exemplu cand vom vorbi despre minimul de plata.
01:58
If you spent 62 dollars for a meal,
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Daca te imprumuti 62 de dolari pentru o masa,
02:01
the longer you take to pay out that loan,
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si te decizi sa rambursezi imprumutul
02:04
you see, over a period of time using the minimum payment
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folosind minimul de plata pe o perioada de timp,
02:06
it's 99 dollars and 17 cents.
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ajungi sa platesti intr-un final 99 de dolari si 17 centi.
02:09
How about that? Do you think your bank is going to show that to people?
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Ce ziceti? Credeti ca banca dvs. arata aceasta estimare clientilor?
02:12
But it's going to work. It's more effective
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Insa functioneaza. E mai eficace
02:14
than just computational aids.
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decat calculatorul de buzunar.
02:16
And what about terms like
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Si ce parere aveti de termeni cum ar fi
02:18
"over the limit"?
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“peste limita” ?
02:21
Perhaps a stealth thing.
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Poate e vorba de ceva ascuns.
02:23
Define it in context. Tell people what it means.
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Definiti-l in context. Spuneti clientilor ce inseamna.
02:25
When you put it in plain English,
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Cand vorbesti intr-o engleza obisnuita
02:27
you almost force the institution
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aproape ca fortezi institutia
02:29
to give the people a way, a default out of that,
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sa le ofere oamenilor o cale, un procedeu standard
02:31
and not put themselves at risk.
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prin care sa nu se expuna riscului.
02:33
Plain English is about
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Engleza simpla se refera la
02:36
changing the content.
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schimbarea continutului.
02:38
And one of the things I'm most proud of
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Iar unul din lucrurile de care sunt cel mai mandru
02:40
is this agreement for IBM.
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este acest contract al companiei IBM.
02:42
It's a grid, it's a calendar.
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Este o grila, este un calendar.
02:44
At such and such a date, IBM has responsibilities,
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La data cutare si cutare, IBM are responsabilitati,
02:46
you have responsibilities.
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tu ai responsabilitati.
02:48
Received very favorably by business.
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A fost primit foarte favorabil in mediul de afaceri.
02:52
And there is some good news to report today.
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Mai am si alte vesti bune de semnalat pentru azi.
02:54
Each year, one in 10 taxpayers
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In fiecare an un contribuabil din 10
02:56
receives a notice from the IRS.
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primeste o notificare de la fisc.
02:58
There are 200 million letters that go out.
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Sunt 200 de milioane de scrisori care trebuie expediate.
03:01
Running through this typical letter that they had,
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Parcurgand aceasta scrisoare standard a lor
03:04
I ran it through my simplicity lab,
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am supus-o procesului meu de simplificare,
03:06
it's pretty unintelligible.
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e aproape neinteligibila.
03:08
All the parts of the document in red are not intelligible.
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Partile in rosu ale documentului sunt neinteligibile.
03:12
We looked at doing over 1,000 letters that cover
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Ne-am uitat la peste 1000 de scrisori - care acopera
03:14
70 percent of their transactions in plain English.
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70% din activitatea fiscului – si le-am scris intr-o engleza obisnuita.
03:17
They have been tested in the laboratory.
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Au fost testate in laborator.
03:19
When I run it through my lab,
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Cand le-am citit in laboratorul meu,
03:21
this heat-mapping shows everything
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aceste zone fierbinti indica tot ceea ce
03:23
is intelligible.
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este inteligibil.
03:25
And the IRS has introduced the program.
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Si fiscul a introdus acest program.
03:27
(Applause)
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(Aplauze)
03:32
There are a couple of things going on right now
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Se petrec acum cateva lucruri asupra carora
03:35
that I want to bring to your attention.
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vreau sa va atrag atentia.
03:37
There is a lot of discussion now
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Sunt foarte multe discutii in prezent
03:39
about a consumer financial protection agency,
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despre o agentie de protectie financiara a consumatorului,
03:41
how to mandate simplicity.
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si cum sa se introduca in mod obligatoriu simplificarea.
03:43
We see all this complexity.
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Vedem cu totii aceasta complexitate.
03:45
It's incumbent upon us,
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Este de datoria noastra
03:47
and this organization, I believe,
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si a acestei organizatii, cred,
03:49
to make clarity, transparency
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sa aducem in prim plan national
03:52
and empathy a national priority.
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claritatea, transparenta si empatia.
03:55
There is no way that we should allow government
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In nici un caz nu ar trebui sa permitem guvernului
03:57
to communicate the way they communicate.
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sa mai comunice in maniera in care comunica acum.
03:59
There is no way we should do business
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In nici un caz nu ar trebui sa facem afaceri
04:01
with companies that have agreements
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cu companiile ale caror contracte
04:04
with stealth provisions and that are unintelligible.
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au prevederi obscure si neinteligibile.
04:06
So, how are we going to change the world?
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Cum vom face deci ca sa schimbam lumea?
04:08
Make clarity, transparency and simplicity a national priority.
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Facand o prioritate nationala din claritate, transparenta si simplitate.
04:13
I thank you.
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Va multumesc.
04:15
(Applause)
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(Aplauze)
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