Rewrite a document in plain English
Take jargon-heavy text and rewrite it so a reader with no background can follow it, without losing the meaning.
Yours to copy, change, and make your own.
Replace every [BRACKETED PLACEHOLDER] with your own material before you send it.
Rewrite the text below in plain English for [AUDIENCE]. Rules: - Reading age of about 12: short sentences, everyday words, active voice. - Keep every fact, figure, date, and obligation. Nothing may be lost or changed, only expressed more clearly. - Where a technical term is unavoidable, keep it but explain it in brackets the first time. - Keep the original structure (headings, bullet lists) unless it fights the clarity. - Use British English. After the rewrite, list anything you were unsure how to interpret so I can check the original meaning survived. Text: [PASTE THE TEXT]
- [AUDIENCE]
- Who will read it, described concretely: their role, context, and what they know already.
- [PASTE THE TEXT]
- The original document or extract you want rewritten.
Where it shines, and where it falls over.
- Letters and web content going to the public
- Internal policies staff skim rather than read
- Making specialist reports readable for non-specialist colleagues
- Name the audience precisely. "Tenants, many of whom speak English as a second language" produces better output than "the public".
- Run the result through your organisation's tone-of-voice guide as a second prompt if you have one.
Simplifying is a form of interpreting, and the model sometimes interprets wrongly. Legal duties are the classic failure: "you may be liable" and "you are liable" simplify to very different sentences. The closing list of uncertainties exists precisely so you check those points against the original.
It also struggles when the source text is ambiguous to begin with. The model will pick one plausible reading and commit to it, which hides the ambiguity instead of surfacing it. If the original is contractual or statutory wording, get the simplified version checked by whoever owns the original.
AI output is a first draft, not a finished product. You are responsible for whatever you send, publish, or decide with it.
The Institute of AI sets the standard of AI practice, works to that standard itself, and puts it within reach of everyone else. The AI for All Prompt Library is one of the ways it does that.
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