TED2010
Alan Siegel: Let's simplify legal jargon!
Alan Siegel: Zjednodušme právnický žargón!
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Daňové formuláre, úverové zmluvy alebo zdravotná legislatíva sú preplnené hatlaninou a neskutočne dlhé, hovorí Alan Siegel. Žiada jednoduchší a rozumnejší dizajn a prostú angličtinu, aby sa právne dokumenty stali zrozumiteľnými pre nás všetkých.
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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Takže, ide o to, že máme verejných činiteľov,
00:18
public officials who are out of control;
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vládnych úradníkov, ktorý sú odtrhnutí z reťaze.
00:21
they are writing bills that are unintelligible,
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Píšu zákony, ktoré sú nezrozumiteľné.
00:23
and out of these bills are going to come
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Z týchto zákonov vznikne
00:25
maybe 40,000 pages of regulations, total complexity,
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okolo 40000 strán veľmi zložitých nariadení,
00:30
which has a dramatically negative impact on our life.
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ktoré majú veľmi negatívny dopad na náš život.
00:33
If you're a veteran coming back from Iraq or Vietnam
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Ak ste veterán po návrate z Iraku alebo Vietnamu,
00:37
you face a blizzard of paperwork to get your benefits;
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čelíte lavíne papierovania, aby ste dostali svoje benefity.
00:41
if you're trying to get a small business loan,
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Ak sa snažíte získať malú podnikateľskú pôžičku,
00:43
you face a blizzard of paperwork.
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čelíte lavíne papierovania.
00:45
What are we going to do about it? I define simplicity
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Čo s tým teda urobíme? Ja definujem jednoduchosť ako
00:47
as a means to achieving clarity,
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prostriedok na dosiahnutie jasnosti,
00:50
transparency and empathy,
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priehľadnosti a empatie,
00:52
building humanity into communications.
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aby sme vniesli do komunikácie trocha ľudskosti.
00:55
I've been simplifying things for 30 years.
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Zjednodušujem veci už 30 rokov.
00:58
I come out of the advertising and design business.
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Pracoval som v oblasti reklamy a dizajnu.
01:01
My focus is understanding you people,
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Zameriavam sa na pochopenie vás, ľudí,
01:05
and how you interact with the government
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ako komunikujete s vládou,
01:07
to get your benefits,
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aby ste získali svoje výhody,
01:09
how you interact with corporations to decide whom you're going to do business with,
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ako komunikujete s korporáciami, keď sa rozhodujete s kým obchodovať
01:12
and how you view brands.
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a ako vnímate obchodné značky.
01:15
So, very quickly, when President Obama said,
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Takže, veľmi rýchlo, keďže prezident Obama povedal,
01:19
"I don't see why we can't
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"Nevidím dôvod prečo by sme nemohli
01:21
have a one-page, plain English consumer credit agreement."
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mať jednostránkovú zmluvu na spotrebný úver napísanú v prostej angličtine."
01:25
So, I locked myself in a room,
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Zamkol som sa v izbe
01:27
figured out the content,
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prišiel som na to, o čom je obsah dokumentu,
01:30
organized the document, and wrote it in plain English.
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zostavil som ho a napísal v prostej angličtine.
01:33
I've had this checked by the two top
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Nechal som si to skontrolovať dvomi
01:35
consumer credit lawyers in the country.
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najlepšími právnikmi z oblasti spotrebných úverov.
01:37
This is a real thing.
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Je to skutočnosť.
01:39
Now, I went one step further and said,
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Potom som zašiel ešte o krok ďalej a povedal som si,
01:42
"Why do we have to stick with the stodgy lawyers
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"Prečo sa musíme držať tých suchopárnych právnikov
01:44
and just have a paper document? Let's go online."
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a mať len papierový dokument? Poďme online."
01:48
And many people
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Niektorí ľudia môžu
01:50
might need help in computation.
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potrebovať pomoc pri výpočtoch.
01:52
Working with the Harvard Business School,
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Keď spolupracujete s Harvardskou obchodnou školou
01:54
you'll see this example when you talk about minimum payment:
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vidíte to, keď hovoríte o minimálnych splátkach.
01:58
If you spent 62 dollars for a meal,
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Predstavte si, že miniete 62 dolárov na jedlo.
02:01
the longer you take to pay out that loan,
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Čím dlhšie vám bude trvať vyplatiť túto pôžičku,
02:04
you see, over a period of time using the minimum payment
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za určitú dobu a za využitia minimálnych splátok
02:06
it's 99 dollars and 17 cents.
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táto suma narastie na 99 dolárov a 17 centov.
02:09
How about that? Do you think your bank is going to show that to people?
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Čo na to poviete? Myslíte si, že banka to ľuďom povie?
02:12
But it's going to work. It's more effective
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Ale bude to fungovať. Má to väčší účinok
02:14
than just computational aids.
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než len pomoc pri výpočtoch.
02:16
And what about terms like
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Čo napríklad s výrazmi ako
02:18
"over the limit"?
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"nad limit"?
02:21
Perhaps a stealth thing.
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Možno je v tom nejaký skrytý význam.
02:23
Define it in context. Tell people what it means.
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Treba to definovať v kontexte. Povedať ľuďom, čo to znamená.
02:25
When you put it in plain English,
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Keď to napíšete v prostej angličtine,
02:27
you almost force the institution
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takmer donútite inštitúcie,
02:29
to give the people a way, a default out of that,
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aby dali ľuďom spôsob ako sa takýmto veciam vyhnúť,
02:31
and not put themselves at risk.
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aby sa nevystavovali riziku.
02:33
Plain English is about
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Prostá angličtina je o
02:36
changing the content.
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zmene obsahu.
02:38
And one of the things I'm most proud of
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Jedna z vecí, na ktoré som najviac hrdý,
02:40
is this agreement for IBM.
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je táto dohoda pre IBM.
02:42
It's a grid, it's a calendar.
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Je to rozvrh, kalendár.
02:44
At such and such a date, IBM has responsibilities,
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V ten a ten deň má IBM také a také povinnosti
02:46
you have responsibilities.
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a vy máte tiež nejaké povinnosti.
02:48
Received very favorably by business.
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Bolo to prijaté veľmi dobre.
02:52
And there is some good news to report today.
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A mám dnes aj dobré správy.
02:54
Each year, one in 10 taxpayers
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Každý rok dostane jeden z desiatich daňových poplatníkov
02:56
receives a notice from the IRS.
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oznam od daňového úradu.
02:58
There are 200 million letters that go out.
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Dohromady je to 200 miliónov listov.
03:01
Running through this typical letter that they had,
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Zobral som typický list, ktorý takto posielajú
03:04
I ran it through my simplicity lab,
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a skontroloval som ho v mojom laboratóriu jednoduchosti.
03:06
it's pretty unintelligible.
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Je úplne nezrozumiteľný.
03:08
All the parts of the document in red are not intelligible.
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Všetky časti dokumentu vyznačené červenou sú nezrozumiteľné.
03:12
We looked at doing over 1,000 letters that cover
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Dohliadali sme na zostavu viac ako tisícky listov, ktoré pokrývajú
03:14
70 percent of their transactions in plain English.
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70 percent transakcií daňového úradu v prostej angličtine.
03:17
They have been tested in the laboratory.
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Boli testované v laboratóriu.
03:19
When I run it through my lab,
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Keď to prejdem v mojom laboratóriu,
03:21
this heat-mapping shows everything
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tento graf ukáže všetko,
03:23
is intelligible.
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čo je zrozumiteľné.
03:25
And the IRS has introduced the program.
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A daňový úrad začal používať tento program.
03:27
(Applause)
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(Potlesk)
03:32
There are a couple of things going on right now
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V súčasnosti sa deje niekoľko vecí,
03:35
that I want to bring to your attention.
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na ktoré by som vás chcel upozorniť.
03:37
There is a lot of discussion now
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V súčasnosti sa veľa diskutuje
03:39
about a consumer financial protection agency,
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o agentúre na finančnú ochranu spotrebiteľa
03:41
how to mandate simplicity.
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a ako ustanoviť jednoduchosť.
03:43
We see all this complexity.
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Vidíme túto komplexnosť.
03:45
It's incumbent upon us,
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Je našou povinnosťou,
03:47
and this organization, I believe,
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a verím, že aj povinnosťou tejto organizácie,
03:49
to make clarity, transparency
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urobiť jasnosť, priehľadnosť
03:52
and empathy a national priority.
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a empatiu národnou prioritou.
03:55
There is no way that we should allow government
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V žiadnom prípade by sme nemali vláde dovoliť,
03:57
to communicate the way they communicate.
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aby komunikovala spôsobom akým komunikuje.
03:59
There is no way we should do business
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Nemali by sme obchodovať
04:01
with companies that have agreements
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so spoločnosťami, ktoré majú dohody
04:04
with stealth provisions and that are unintelligible.
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obsahujúce tajné opatrenia a ktoré sú nezrozumiteľné.
04:06
So, how are we going to change the world?
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Takže ako zmeníme svet?
04:08
Make clarity, transparency and simplicity a national priority.
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Urobíme jasnosť, priehľadnosť a jednoduchosť národnou prioritou.
04:13
I thank you.
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Ďakujem.
04:15
(Applause)
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(Potlesk)
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