Use a table to eliminate repetition

Before

Through The XYZ Inc. 2007 Incentive Plan, each non-employee director annually receives a form of long-term equity compensation approved by the Nominating and Governance Committee. Non-employee directors generally receive their awards on the date of the annual stockholders meeting. An individual who becomes a non-employee director after the annual meeting but prior to August 1 will be granted the full compensation paid as of December 15. An individual who becomes a non-employee director on or after August 1 and on or before December 15 will be granted pro-rated compensation paid as of December 15. An individual who becomes a non-employee director on or after December 16 and prior to the next annual meeting of stockholders will be granted pro-rated compensation as of date of the annual meeting.

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Before, with commentary

Through The XYZ Inc. 2007 Incentive Plan, each non-employee director annually receives a form of long-term equity compensation approved by the Nominating and Governance Committee [since so much of the proxy is devoted to the process of setting and approving compensation, this language has to be redundant]. Non-employee directors generally receive their awards on the date of the annual stockholders meeting. An individual who becomes a non-employee director after the annual meeting but prior to August 1 will be granted the full compensation paid as of December 15. An individual who becomes a non-employee director on or after August 1 and on or before December 15 will be granted pro-rated compensation paid as of December 15. An individual who becomes a non-employee director on or after December 16 and prior to the next annual meeting of stockholders will be granted pro-rated compensation as of date of the annual meeting. [There’s nothing terribly wrong with these sentences, but they are repetitive and make the paragraph longer than it needs to be.]

After

Through The XYZ Inc. 2007 Incentive Plan, each non-employee director annually receives a form of long-term equity compensation—typically on the date of the annual stockholders meeting. The following table shows how incentive compensation is paid to individuals who become non-employee directors after the annual meeting.

An individual who became a non-employee director… …but before… …will receive… …as of…
after the annual meeting August 1 full compensation December 15
on or after August 1 or on December 15 pro-rated compensation December 15
on or after December 16 the next annual meeting pro-rated compensation the next annual meeting date

98 words