Writing to be understood

How can you make a text accessible to beginners without losing essential information?

1250 € per session, excl. VAT

In short

This half-day session of 3 hours explores how generative AI can help adapt vocabulary, structure and explanations to a reader’s knowledge. Working from a fictional set of instructions, participants produce two targeted versions, check their fidelity to the source and test comprehension using a simple assessment grid.

Why this training?

An accurate text can still be unusable if the reader does not know its terms or cannot identify the action expected. Adapting means distinguishing between prior knowledge, the need for explanation and the reading context, rather than simply shortening sentences. AI can suggest rewordings, but it can also omit an exception or add a detail that is not in the source. This introduction therefore pairs each attempt with a comparison against the source: simplifying the wording must not change the meaning. Ongoing case study: The fictional organisation « Pradélis Ressources » distributes instructions for booking shared equipment. Its text mixes access conditions, deadlines and internal terminology. A version must be prepared for newcomers and another for experienced contact persons, without changing the rules. Transfer to the workplace: During the following week, take a short fictional or anonymised text, describe its readership and apply the checking grid. Ask a representative reader to restate the instructions in their own words, then correct any misunderstood passages before distribution.

Objectives of this training

  • Describe the knowledge and needs of two readerships.
  • Identify jargon, implicit assumptions and essential information.
  • Formulate a rewriting request specifying the audience, format and constraints.
  • Produce two variants that retain the same rules.
  • Assess fidelity and comprehension using an explicit assessment grid.

Who is it for and what are the prerequisites?

Roles and tasks concerned

  • Writers of educational materials and instructions for diverse audiences.
  • Internal communications officers and team leaders explaining instructions to newcomers.

Prior skills

  • No prior knowledge of AI is required; support is provided when formulating a first request.
  • Ability to consult and edit a text document in French.

What you will work on

  1. Starting with the reader

    Objective: Distinguish between the audience’s level of knowledge and presumed ability. Prior knowledge, purpose of reading, familiarity with the vocabulary; limitations of labels such as « beginner ».

  2. Separating meaning from wording

    Objective: Identify what can change and what must remain. Jargon, complex sentences, implicit assumptions; the distinction between simplification, summarising and removing information.

  3. Discovering assisted rewriting

    Objective: Obtain and then refine two targeted proposals. Presentation of a simple request: source text, readership, intended action, indicative length and a prohibition on adding facts.

  4. Checking what the reader understands

    Objective: Check fidelity and usability before approval. Line-by-line comparison; a restatement test; limitations of a readability judgement produced by AI alone.

What you take away

  • A worksheet describing the two readerships and their explanation needs.
  • A reusable rewriting request with fidelity constraints.
  • Two annotated versions of the instructions, for beginners and contact persons.
  • A completed checking grid and a record of corrections.

Method and assessment

  • Short presentations followed by immediate practice using the ongoing case study.
  • Individual work followed by work in pairs, with peer review of the texts produced.
  • Guided group discussion: what works, what needs correcting and what remains a human decision.
  • Preparation: Arrange access to a generative AI tool authorised by the organisation; no confidential content will be entered. Optionally, choose a one-page anonymised text; a shared fictional set of instructions is provided for the exercises.

Observable criteria: Each profile specifies prior knowledge, reading context and expected action. ; Difficult terms are explained or replaced in the beginner version. ; All conditions, deadlines and exceptions in the source are retained, with no factual additions. ; The two variants show justified differences in vocabulary and level of detail. ; The test reader locates the instructions and correctly restates the three checkpoints..

Frequently asked questions

Do you need to know how to use AI already?

No. The first attempt is guided, from describing the readership through to comparison with the source.

Does adapting always mean shortening?

No. A beginner may need a definition or an additional example; a contact person may prefer a more direct presentation.

Can you use an internal document?

Only after anonymisation and in accordance with the organisation’s rules, using an authorised tool. Otherwise, use the fictional case study provided.

Does AI validate the audience’s comprehension?

No. Its suggestions remain hypotheses; a test with representative readers is needed to check actual comprehension.

Last updated: