public officials who are out of control;

總而言之，有些領袖公僕

they are writing bills that are unintelligible,

政府官員做事不按章法

and out of these bills are going to come

他們撰寫的立法條款難懂

maybe 40,000 pages of regulations, total complexity,

而這些成堆的法案日後

which has a dramatically negative impact on our life.

衍生為厚達4萬多頁的法規，複雜難懂致極

If you're a veteran coming back from Iraq or Vietnam

儼然對我們的生活造成極大的負面影響

you face a blizzard of paperwork to get your benefits;

如果您是自伊拉克或越南返家的退伍軍人

if you're trying to get a small business loan,

得填寫教人暈頭轉向的書面文件才能領福利救助金

you face a blizzard of paperwork.

如果要申請創業貸款

What are we going to do about it? I define simplicity

先得與滿坑滿谷的申請表奮戰

as a means to achieving clarity,

我們究竟該怎麼辦？「化繁為簡」

transparency and empathy,

是實踐明確

building humanity into communications.

一目了然、建立共識的依歸

I've been simplifying things for 30 years.

同時在溝通中顧念你我的需要

I come out of the advertising and design business.

30年來，我不斷在化繁為簡

My focus is understanding you people,

我從事廣告設計

and how you interact with the government

我在乎的是瞭解各位的想法

to get your benefits,

看重各位要如何與政府打交道

how you interact with corporations to decide whom you're going to do business with,

才能為自己爭取福利

and how you view brands.

要與企業如何交手來決定你的對口

So, very quickly, when President Obama said,

還有，你怎麼看待自己的品牌

"I don't see why we can't

當歐巴馬總統也表示：

have a one-page, plain English consumer credit agreement."

我看不出來準備一份

So, I locked myself in a room,

篇幅一頁淺顯易懂的信貸合約有什麼難！

figured out the content,

所以我決定閉關

organized the document, and wrote it in plain English.

構思內容

I've had this checked by the two top

設計文件架構，再以簡單常用的語彙撰寫

consumer credit lawyers in the country.

這份文件已經由國內兩位頂尖的

This is a real thing.

消費者信貸律師校閱

Now, I went one step further and said,

一點也不假

"Why do we have to stick with the stodgy lawyers

現在我要更進一步地質疑：

and just have a paper document? Let's go online."

我們非得聽命於這些古板的律師嗎？

And many people

拿份書面文件、就說線上處理吧？

might need help in computation.

許多人可能

Working with the Harvard Business School,

數學不太靈光

you'll see this example when you talk about minimum payment:

若與哈佛商業學院合作

If you spent 62 dollars for a meal,

各位就會清楚什麼是最低付款金額

the longer you take to pay out that loan,

如果你一餐要花62元

you see, over a period of time using the minimum payment

就得花愈長的時間才能償清貸款

it's 99 dollars and 17 cents.

明白嗎？長久以來都是使用最低付款金額

How about that? Do you think your bank is going to show that to people?

最後要付99元又17角

But it's going to work. It's more effective

這能接受嗎？你認為銀行會公開實情嗎？

than just computational aids.

但這仍然行得通，因為成效更佳

And what about terms like

省去計算的麻煩

"over the limit"?

再來看看這個詞

Perhaps a stealth thing.

超過信用額度？

Define it in context. Tell people what it means.

這也許更微妙

When you put it in plain English,

若以前後文來定義，告訴大家這什麼意思

you almost force the institution

如果我們說白話文

to give the people a way, a default out of that,

等於是強迫銀行

and not put themselves at risk.

讓民眾有規避的後路

Plain English is about

不讓自己陷入風險

changing the content.

所謂的白話文就是

And one of the things I'm most proud of

修改內容

is this agreement for IBM.

我最自豪的一項成就

It's a grid, it's a calendar.

就是IBM的合約

At such and such a date, IBM has responsibilities,

這是一份表格、也是行事曆

you have responsibilities.

在這些日子裡，IBM有必須履行的義務

Received very favorably by business.

你也有你的職責

And there is some good news to report today.

業界欣然接受這種作法

Each year, one in 10 taxpayers

今天還有好消息與各位分享

receives a notice from the IRS.

每年每十個納稅人有一位

There are 200 million letters that go out.

會收到國稅局的通知

Running through this typical letter that they had,

而全國有2億封這樣的信函

I ran it through my simplicity lab,

我們處理了這類典型的書信

it's pretty unintelligible.

就在我的化繁為簡實驗室

All the parts of the document in red are not intelligible.

只覺得艱澀難懂

We looked at doing over 1,000 letters that cover

紅色標示的內容讓人摸不著頭緒

70 percent of their transactions in plain English.

又看了1千多封以一般用語撰寫的信

They have been tested in the laboratory.

這些佔了70%的業務

When I run it through my lab,

然後在實驗室中進行測試

this heat-mapping shows everything

實驗後的結果

is intelligible.

熱點圖指示每封信

And the IRS has introduced the program.

都淺顯易懂

(Applause)

現在國稅局已採用這項作法

There are a couple of things going on right now

(觀眾掌聲)

that I want to bring to your attention.

目前有一些議題

There is a lot of discussion now

希望各位能夠關注

about a consumer financial protection agency,

各界都在熱烈討論

how to mandate simplicity.

消費者金融保護局的相關問題

We see all this complexity.

如何實行化繁為簡原則

It's incumbent upon us,

這些文字艱澀拗口

and this organization, I believe,

因此我相信我們和這個組織

to make clarity, transparency

有義不容辭的責任

and empathy a national priority.

讓貫徹明確、一目了然、共識的原則

There is no way that we should allow government

成為全國的優先任務

to communicate the way they communicate.

我們決不能姑息政府

There is no way we should do business

再以他們慣用的手段與民眾溝通

with companies that have agreements

不能再縱容企業

with stealth provisions and that are unintelligible.

盡以言辭隱晦不明的條款

So, how are we going to change the world?

與我們簽訂業務契約

Make clarity, transparency and simplicity a national priority.

如何為世界開闢新局呢？

I thank you.

就奉明確、淺顯易懂、化繁為簡為歸臬吧！

(Applause)

謝謝各位！