Gwenin: Clarity by Design

A Practical Guide to Clarity, Connection, and Meaning Beyond the Field

A lay summary invites people in. It says, “You don’t need to speak my academic language to understand why this work matters.” Whether you’re writing for a grant application, a public report, a cross-disciplinary project, or patient and public involvement, a lay summary is your moment to be heard by people outside your immediate field.

But writing for non-specialists is a skill in its own right. It requires empathy, clarity, and trust in your ability to translate, not shrink, complex ideas. This guide offers warm, practical scaffolding to help you say something clear, meaningful, and human about your research or project.

1. Name the Purpose Before the Paragraph

Writing with purpose helps shape tone and content. Lay summaries vary depending on context, so start by asking: What is this for?

☑ Who might read this summary?
☐ A funding panel without deep subject expertise
☐ Potential collaborators from different disciplines
☐ Policymakers, community partners, or health organisations
☐ Members of the public, including people with lived experience

☑ What do they need from this?
☐ Understanding the problem and why it matters
☐ Confidence that your work is relevant and grounded
☐ A sense of what will be done, not just why it’s important

✍ The goal of this summary is to ____________________________
✍ When someone finishes reading it, I want them to say: ____________________________

🟦 Prompt: Writing for non-experts isn’t dumbing down, it’s widening the conversation. That’s generous work.

2. Strip Out Jargon Without Losing Meaning

Many of the words we think are “neutral” are actually coded. Your job is to translate, not erase.

☑ Try replacing these:
• “Methodology” → “Approach” or “Way we studied it”
• “Qualitative inquiry” → “Exploring people’s experiences”
• “Comorbidities” → “People living with more than one health condition”
• “Efficacy” → “How well it works”
• “Endogenous variables” → “Factors that change in response to others”

✍ I’ll rephrase ____________________________ as ____________________________
✍ If a sentence feels dense, I’ll try reading it aloud. If I trip over it, I’ll revise it.

🟦 Prompt: The people you’re writing for are intelligent. They just speak a different language.

3. Focus on the Big Idea and Why It Matters

A lay summary is a zoomed-out view; its job is to show the forest, not every tree.

☑ What’s the point of this work?
☐ What problem are you exploring, and for whom?
☐ What big idea or question is driving it?
☐ Why does it matter now?

Sentence scaffold to try:
“This project explores ____________________________ to better understand ____________________________. It matters because ____________________________, and could help ____________________________.”

✍ If I had 30 seconds to explain this on the radio or to a school governor, I’d say: ____________________________

🟦 Prompt: Give people something solid to care about, then show how your work moves toward it.

4. Use a Clear Structure to Hold the Reader

Don’t assume readers will follow your logic automatically. Help them along with an intuitive structure.

☑ Suggested flow:

1. What’s the challenge or issue? (e.g., “Many people living with dementia struggle to access…”)
2. What’s your research asking or offering? (e.g., “We’re exploring ways to improve…”)
3. What are you doing? (In plain steps: interviews, surveys, workshops, etc.)
4. Why it matters. (e.g., “This could help local services design more inclusive support…”)
5. Who it includes. (e.g. “We’re working closely with older adults, carers, and community partners…”)

✍ Each paragraph should have one purpose. If I’m trying to do too much, I’ll split it.

🟦 Prompt: Structure is part of accessibility. Make your summary feel guided, not crowded.

5. Bring in People, Not Just Concepts

A great lay summary makes it easy to see who’s involved and who benefits.

☑ Ask:
☐ Who is this for?
☐ Who might this affect?
☐ Who are you working with to make it more grounded or inclusive?

✍ Instead of “participants will be studied,” I might say: “We’ll work with young people to understand…”
✍ I’ll avoid the phrase ____________________________ because it feels clinical or distancing.

🟦 Prompt: Writing about people? Let them feel real.

6. Keep It Relatable and Specific

Abstract summaries lose people. Concrete ones connect.

☑ Consider swapping abstract claims like:
• “This research will explore systems-level impacts…”
For something like:
• “We’ll speak with teachers and students in three schools to understand how this new approach affects daily learning.”

✍ If the sentence feels vague or polished, I’ll ask: “What does this look like in practice?”

🟦 Prompt: You’re telling an action story, not just signalling expertise.

Final Reflection: Let Your Ideas Be Understood

A lay summary is where your work meets the world. It doesn’t have to sound grand, clever, or overly academic. It just has to sound like someone who knows what they’re doing, knows why it matters, and wants others to feel included in the journey.

✍ I’ll re-read my summary and ask: “Does this help someone outside my field understand the heart of the work?”

You’re always welcome to view Gwenin for a selection of frameworks, or pop over to Spiralmore’s extended PDF collections. In addition, you’re always welcome to explore our more relaxed corner: the informal blog.