Our communication aims to express engagement and connection. This means communicating in a friendly and involved way — personally and closely, always keeping the needs of our target audiences in mind.

At present, this is not always the case. Our communication is often formal, lengthy and bureaucratic. We also tend to write from the university’s point of view — what we want to say — rather than from the reader’s perspective — what they want to know. Below are some tips to improve this.

Write with your audience in mind

Put yourself in the reader’s shoes. Don’t start from your own perspective or that of the university, but from the visitor who’s reading the text. What does the reader need? What is their level of knowledge? What is their perspective? Use this as the starting point to bridge the message of the UvA.

• Not: ‘The library has computers that students can use.’
• Instead: ‘You can use the library’s computers.’

Write in a personal tone

Use a personal tone. Instead of only writing ‘the UvA’, ‘the university’ or ‘the students’, also use ‘we’ and ‘you’. This makes a large organisation like the UvA sound more approachable.

On UvA websites, we use ‘you’ rather than the formal ‘sir/madam’.

Use clear language – even for a highly educated audience

Clear language fosters engagement and a sense of connection — even when your audience has a university-level education. Several studies highlight this point.

For example, U.S. research has shown that writers who use difficult words are perceived as less intelligent. The reverse also applies: authors of clear texts are seen as more intelligent. Dutch researchers explain this by noting that readers assume that people write clearly when they know their subject matter, and write obscurely when they don’t fully understand it.

The same Dutch study found that clear language also makes a more convincing and friendlier impression — and that this effect is even stronger among university-educated readers.

There are many reasons to choose clear language. Among university-educated readers, there are also people with dyslexia. And not all have Dutch as their first language.

Tips for writing clearly:

• Use words that everyone understands: pick simple words or check their clarity.
• Avoid outdated or formal expressions such as therefore, nevertheless, that which, whereby, in view of, endeavour, etc.
• Avoid bureaucratic language and jargon. For example, write registration instead of application procedure, and support instead of facilitate.
• If you must use a complex term, explain what it means.
• Always spell out abbreviations the first time, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses: Teaching and Examination Regulations (TER).
• Avoid convoluted sentence structures.
• Use the active voice (see below).
• Alternate short and long sentences for a more dynamic text.
• Keep paragraphs to a maximum of 4 to 5 lines.

Use the active voice

Write in the active voice and in the present tense. Clearly state who is doing what. Avoid passive constructions. These often use ‘is/are... by...’ forms.

• Not: The Teaching and Examination Regulations (TER) are adopted every year.
• Instead: The faculty adopts the Teaching and Examination Regulations (TER) every year.

Avoid using nominalisations — turning verbs into nouns — as this makes sentences unnecessarily complex. For example:

• A decline in the number of students has occurred.
• Next year we aim to achieve an expansion of the number of degree programmes.

Preferably use an active verb style:

• The number of students has declined.
• We want to expand the number of degree programmes next year.

Use positive language

Write in a positive tone. Focus on what should happen. Rephrase negatives:

• Not: Don’t register too late.
• Instead: Register on time.

Emphasise the benefit to the reader:

• Not: To prevent misuse of data, we ask you to enable two-step verification.
• Instead: To better protect your data, we ask you to enable two-step verification.

Avoid promotional language, such as ad-speak (the best course, the most fun event, a fantastic result). Stick to the facts — but feel free to highlight positive facts: ‘The researchers were the first to demonstrate that…’

Encourage interaction

If you want the reader to engage with you, be clear about it. A heading like Contact followed by a phone number or email address isn’t enough — add an actual call to action.

That might be in a friendly tone: ‘We’d love to hear from you’, ‘We’re here for you’.
Or in a clear and direct form: ‘Get in touch’, ‘Send us an email’, ‘Let us know’.

Write with respect for others

The UvA strives to be a university where everyone feels respected and at home. Your writing can contribute to this. Avoid, for example:

• Stereotypical language, such as working mother or female CEO — after all, we don’t usually say male CEO.
• Gender-specific terms, such as fireman or ombudsman. Use firefighter or ombudsperson instead.
• Reducing people to a single characteristic, such as the transgender, the disabled, or the lesbian. Instead, use trans man, student with a disability, or lesbian woman — if relevant. People are more than a single label.

Want to learn more about inclusive writing? See, for example:

• The Incomplete Style Guide by Women Inc. (in Dutch)
• Taaladvies.net’s recommendations on gender and language (in Dutch)
• BiPlus Inclusive Language Guide (in Dutch)