Simon has been writing professionally since completing a BA in Linguistics from Victoria University of Wellington in 1989.
He is passionate about the need for society to expect the information we produce and consume to be clear and concise, and is acutely aware of the pervasive costs of overwhelming quantities of low-value, poor-quality information.
In addition to publishing books and articles, Simon has worked on hundreds of projects and thousands of documents through his extensive teaching and consulting work.
His flagship text is Clear Concise Compelling, originally published by Nakedize in 2006, with a second edition published in 2021. This beautifully-designed book has sold more than 4,000 copies in New Zealand, and is a staple for public servants.
For Nakedize, Simon provides consultancy services, and develops, publishes, and teaches educational content for knowledge workers.
Since 2008, Simon has been an Associate at Victoria University of Wellington, where he teaches writing skills to business and government writers and managers for Kāpuhipuhi Wellington Uni Professional.
Since 2011, Simon has served on the judging panel of the New Zealand Plain Language Awards, and was the head judge for the most recent Awards.
Simon is a passionate advocate for both simplicity and collaboration. He regularly asks those he works with: What’s the least we can do to be excellent?
You can learn more about Simon and his philosophy at simonhertnon.com.