TED2010
Alan Siegel: Let's simplify legal jargon!
Alan Siegel: Le te thjeshtojme zhargonin ligjor!
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Formularet e taksave, marreveshjet e kredive, legjislacioni shendetesor, jane te gjithe te mbushur me fraza te pakuptueshme dhe vertet te gjata, thote Alan Siegel. Ai na fton te ridizenjojme ne menyre te thjeshte, ne anglishte te kuptueshme per te gjithe, dokumentet tona ligjore.
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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Ne kemi lidere te medhenje,
00:18
public officials who are out of control;
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zyrtare publike qe kane dale jashte kontrollit;
00:21
they are writing bills that are unintelligible,
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ata po shkruajne dokumente te padeshifrueshme,
00:23
and out of these bills are going to come
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dhe nga keto dokumente do te dalin
00:25
maybe 40,000 pages of regulations, total complexity,
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ndoshta rreth 40 mije faqe rregullash
shume te komplikuara
shume te komplikuara
00:30
which has a dramatically negative impact on our life.
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qe do te ndikojne negativisht ne jetet tona.
00:33
If you're a veteran coming back from Iraq or Vietnam
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Nese ti je nje veteran i luftes ne Irak apo Vietnam
00:37
you face a blizzard of paperwork to get your benefits;
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atehere te duhet te merresh me njeqind
dokumente per te arritur tek shperblimi yt;
dokumente per te arritur tek shperblimi yt;
00:41
if you're trying to get a small business loan,
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nese te duhet nje kredi e vogel per biznes,
00:43
you face a blizzard of paperwork.
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atehere duhet te merresh me njeqind dokumente.
00:45
What are we going to do about it? I define simplicity
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A do te bejme dicka per t'a ndryshuar kete?
Sipas meje thjeshtesia eshte
Sipas meje thjeshtesia eshte
00:47
as a means to achieving clarity,
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nje menyre per t'i bere gjerat me te qarta,
00:50
transparency and empathy,
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transparente, e per te krijuar empati,
00:52
building humanity into communications.
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duke e bere komunikimin me njerezor.
00:55
I've been simplifying things for 30 years.
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Kam 30 vjet qe merrem me thjeshtezimin e gjerave.
00:58
I come out of the advertising and design business.
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Une vij nga biznesi i publicitetit dhe dizajnit.
01:01
My focus is understanding you people,
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Qellimi im eshte t'ju kuptoj ju
01:05
and how you interact with the government
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dhe menyren se si ju bashkeveproni me qeverine
01:07
to get your benefits,
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per te marre shperblimet tuaja,
01:09
how you interact with corporations to decide whom you're going to do business with,
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se si ju bashkeveproni me korporatat per te vendosur
se cilin do te zgjidhni si partner biznesi,
se cilin do te zgjidhni si partner biznesi,
01:12
and how you view brands.
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dhe se si ju i shihni markat.
01:15
So, very quickly, when President Obama said,
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Shkurtimisht, kur presidenti Obama tha,
01:19
"I don't see why we can't
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"Nuk e kuptoj se pse nuk mund te kemi
01:21
have a one-page, plain English consumer credit agreement."
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nje kontrate prej nje faqeje ne anglishte
te thjeshte per kredite konsumatore."
te thjeshte per kredite konsumatore."
01:25
So, I locked myself in a room,
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Keshtu une u mbylla ne dhomen time,
01:27
figured out the content,
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mendova per permbajtjen,
01:30
organized the document, and wrote it in plain English.
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rregullova dokumentet, dhe e shkruajta
ate ne anglishte te thjeshte.
ate ne anglishte te thjeshte.
01:33
I've had this checked by the two top
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Ia dhashe per kontroll dy prej
01:35
consumer credit lawyers in the country.
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avokateve me te mire te vendit per kredite konsumatore.
01:37
This is a real thing.
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Kjo ka ndodhur vertet.
01:39
Now, I went one step further and said,
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Une shkova edhe nje hap me tej dhe thashe,
01:42
"Why do we have to stick with the stodgy lawyers
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"Pse duhet t'i ngjitemi nga pas avokateve te bezdisur
01:44
and just have a paper document? Let's go online."
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dhe te merremi me letra? Le te shkojme online."
01:48
And many people
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Por shume njerez
01:50
might need help in computation.
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kane nevoje per ndihme ne perdorimin e kompjuterit.
01:52
Working with the Harvard Business School,
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Po te punonit me Harvard Business School,
01:54
you'll see this example when you talk about minimum payment:
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kur te flitej per pagesen minimale, do te shihnit kete shembull:
01:58
If you spent 62 dollars for a meal,
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Nese do te merrnit kredi per 62 dollare,
02:01
the longer you take to pay out that loan,
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sa me shume kohe te merrni per t'a paguar ate kredi,
02:04
you see, over a period of time using the minimum payment
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shikoni, nese paguani kestin minimal gjate gjithe kohes
02:06
it's 99 dollars and 17 cents.
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do te paguanit gjithsej 99 dollare dhe 17 cent.
02:09
How about that? Do you think your bank is going to show that to people?
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Si ju duket? Mendoni se banka juaj ua tregon kete njerezve?
02:12
But it's going to work. It's more effective
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Por kjo do te funksiononte. Kjo eshte ndihme me
02:14
than just computational aids.
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efikase sesa ndihma ne perdorimin e kompjuterit.
02:16
And what about terms like
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Po nese flasim per terma te tipit
02:18
"over the limit"?
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"tejkalim i limitit"?
02:21
Perhaps a stealth thing.
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Ndoshta ka te beje me ndonje vjedhje.
02:23
Define it in context. Tell people what it means.
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Percakto kontekstin. Tregoju njerezve se c'kuptim ka.
02:25
When you put it in plain English,
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Nese e thua ne anglishte te thjeshte,
02:27
you almost force the institution
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ti pothuajse e detyron institucionin
02:29
to give the people a way, a default out of that,
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qe t'i jape njerezve nje alternative,
nje rruge per te shpetuar,
nje rruge per te shpetuar,
02:31
and not put themselves at risk.
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per te mos u gjendur ne rrezik.
02:33
Plain English is about
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Anglishtja e thjeshte
02:36
changing the content.
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ndryshon permbajtjen.
02:38
And one of the things I'm most proud of
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Dhe nje prej gjerave per te cilat jam me shume krenar
02:40
is this agreement for IBM.
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eshte marreveshja me IBM-ne.
02:42
It's a grid, it's a calendar.
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Eshte nje tabele, nje kalendar.
02:44
At such and such a date, IBM has responsibilities,
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Ne kete dhe ate date, IBM-ja ka keto pergjegjesi,
02:46
you have responsibilities.
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ti ke keto pergjegjesi.
02:48
Received very favorably by business.
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U prit shume mire nga bizneset.
02:52
And there is some good news to report today.
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Gjithashtu sot ka disa lajme te
mira qe dua te ndaj me ju.
mira qe dua te ndaj me ju.
02:54
Each year, one in 10 taxpayers
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Cdo vit, nje ne 10 taksapagues
02:56
receives a notice from the IRS.
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merr nje njoftim nga IRS.
02:58
There are 200 million letters that go out.
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Prej andej dalin rreth 200 milione letra.
03:01
Running through this typical letter that they had,
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Teksa po merresha me kete leter tip qe ata kane,
03:04
I ran it through my simplicity lab,
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e analizova ate ne laboratorin tim te thjeshtesise,
03:06
it's pretty unintelligible.
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dhe ajo eshte vertete e pakuptueshme.
03:08
All the parts of the document in red are not intelligible.
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Asnje prej pjeseve me te kuqe nuk eshte e kuptueshme.
03:12
We looked at doing over 1,000 letters that cover
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Ne pergatitem ne anglishte te thjeshte
me shume se 1.000 letra qe perbejne
me shume se 1.000 letra qe perbejne
03:14
70 percent of their transactions in plain English.
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70 perqind te transaksioneve te tyre.
03:17
They have been tested in the laboratory.
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Ato u testuan ne laborator.
03:19
When I run it through my lab,
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Kur i analizova ne laboratorin tim,
03:21
this heat-mapping shows everything
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kjo harte tregon gjithcka qe eshte
03:23
is intelligible.
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e kuptueshme aty.
03:25
And the IRS has introduced the program.
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Dhe IRS po e aplikon kete program.
03:27
(Applause)
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(duartrokitje)
03:32
There are a couple of things going on right now
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Keto kohe po ndodhin disa gjera
03:35
that I want to bring to your attention.
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qe do te doja te ndaja me ju.
03:37
There is a lot of discussion now
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Po diskutohet shume
03:39
about a consumer financial protection agency,
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ne lidhje me nje agjenci per mbrojtjen
financiare te konsumatorit,
financiare te konsumatorit,
03:41
how to mandate simplicity.
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dhe se si ajo mund te thjeshtesoje shume gjera.
03:43
We see all this complexity.
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Ne shohim kaq shume kompleksitet.
03:45
It's incumbent upon us,
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Kjo gje na pengon shume,
03:47
and this organization, I believe,
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dhe une mendoj se kjo organizate
03:49
to make clarity, transparency
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do t'a shnderroje qartesinte, transparencen
03:52
and empathy a national priority.
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dhe empatine ne prioritete te ketij vendi.
03:55
There is no way that we should allow government
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Ne nuk duhet t'a lejojme qeverine
03:57
to communicate the way they communicate.
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te komunikoje ashtu sic ka bere deri tani.
03:59
There is no way we should do business
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Ne nuk mund te bejme biznes
04:01
with companies that have agreements
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me kompani marreveshjet e te cilave
04:04
with stealth provisions and that are unintelligible.
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perfshijne dispozita te pakuptueshme.
04:06
So, how are we going to change the world?
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Pra, si do t'a ndryshojme ne boten?
04:08
Make clarity, transparency and simplicity a national priority.
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Do t'a bejme qartesine, transparencen
dhe thjeshtesine, prioritete kombetare.
dhe thjeshtesine, prioritete kombetare.
04:13
I thank you.
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Faleminderit.
04:15
(Applause)
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(duartrokitje)
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