Your audience members toss most of the information they receive

How to make sure your communication is among the fraction your "reader" actually reads

Dear Communicator:

According to the latest statistics on information overload, Americans are bombarded with more than 3,000 pieces of information each day. That's everything from the spam in their e-mail boxes to the "Got Milk?" sticker on their bananas to CNN blaring in the elevators at the New York Hilton.

The total: more than a million messages a year. No doubt about it, your readers are buried under a stack of information.

If your audience members read
all the information they're inundated with,
they will die.

No exaggeration. Processing all that information would literally be deadly, because it wouldn't leave your readers time to eat, sleep, shower, exercise, watch "Frasier" reruns, talk baby talk to the cats and do all of the other things that make life possible and worthwhile.

So instead, your readers select a fraction of the stack of information they get each day. That tiny sliver of the stack is all they'll read. The rest, they toss.

It's disturbing to realize that throwing away most of the information we send them is actually a survival strategy for our readers. But there is a solution.

To reach your readers
— to make sure your communication is among that tiny sliver
of information your readers will actually read —
you have to think like a reader.

Whether you're writing copy for a publication, brochure, press release or Web site, you must focus your information in the readers' best interest, so they'll understand immediately why they must make time to read your information now.

The secret to thinking like a reader is a simple four-step process that makes your information more relevant, valuable and rewarding to your readers. Anyone can use it. It can take as little as seven minutes to apply. And it's one of the most important skills a communicator can possess.

But most communicators have never learned this system, let alone mastered it to the point where they apply it, day in and day out, to every piece they write or edit. That's too bad, because getting your copy read and acted upon is obviously the kind of skill that can help you fire-proof your career and win promotions, raises and job offers.

Now you can master this process quickly and easily with Ann Wylie's Think Like a Reader toolkit. With the toolkit, you'll learn:

• The formula readers use to determine what to read — and what to throw away
• Two rewards of reading you can tap to boost reader interest in your story
• What your readers are looking for in information — and what they'll avoid
• The No. 1 question your readers want answered
• A simple switch in focus — it takes no more than two minutes — that can help you put yourself in your reader's head
• A simple translation process that pushes reader benefits to the top of your message
• Two quick formulas for writing the second sentence in your very next piece
• A three-letter word that can focus your copy on the relevance to the reader
• Questions to ask your source or subject matter expert to uncover reader benefits

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Why learn this from Ann?

Admittedly, there are some skill sets that Ann lacks and some subjects about which Ann may be the last person on earth you should get advice from. (Her fondness for chocolate and for lying around on the couch probably means she'll never be a successful diet-and-exercise guru, for instance.)

But Ann has spent thousands of hours researching, developing, testing and sharing techniques for mastering the art of thinking like a reader and otherwise improving your writing. She's done so for:

• The graduate writing classes she taught for 10 years in her "spare time"
• The more than 250 writing workshops she's presented to professionals at such companies as FedEx, H&R Block, Gap Inc., Delta Airlines and Sprint
• The award-winning writing she's produced for such clients as the Mayo Clinic, State Street and Northern Funds

Each year, Ann spends more than 240 hours — six work weeks — researching and writing about communicating more effectively.

Frankly, you don't have time to do that. After all, you have a job. You have a life. You don't have hundreds of hours to spend finding ways to improve your writing.

Fortunately, the thousands of hours Ann has spent analyzing, reading and researching can cut hundreds of hours off your own learning curve.

Now you can learn the tricks and techniques Ann has used to earn more than 40 awards — including two IABC Gold Quills — in the Think Like a Reader toolkit.

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Get ALL the tools you need
to apply these techniques
to every piece you write.

The Think Like a Reader toolkit is a collection of ready-to-use tools to jump-start your skills. You'll receive:

• The Think Like a Reader cheat sheet of formulas and checklists — all the action steps of Think Like a Reader toolkit on one sheet of paper. Keep this checklist by your computer to use on every piece you write and edit. Our clients tell us that this job aide is one of the most valuable tools they use for applying new skills to their daily writing.
• The Think Like a Reader audio workshop and guide — you'll be able to "attend" a workshop outlining the key elements of Think Like a Reader system.
• The Think Like a Reader handbook — your tool for reinforcing the four-step process you learn in the audio workshop. Plus, the handbook covers additional techniques that wouldn't fit into the audio workshop.
• The Think Like a Reader supplement — quick tricks, tools and tips for getting inside your reader's head and influencing your reader's opinion. The supplement includes: seven ways to structure your message, 46 benefits that move readers to act, 13 principles and 10 tactics of persuasion, plus 81 words that sell ... and one word that really sells.

What do these people know that you don't know?

With the Think Like a Reader toolkit, you'll soon be making your copy relevant and valuable to your readers — just like these communication pros who have practiced Ann's techniques:

I never used to think like that — I would write about the feature, reporting just the news not the benefit. Now I'm taking the next step and thinking about what other people are going to benefit from and getting right to the point.

 

The PR director at my company has been complimenting me on my writing, and several of my releases sparked interest with reporters.Bottom line: I'm getting more results from my work!

 

— Elise A. Denmon,
assistant director of public relations & assistant managing editor,
Anthony J. Jannetti, Inc.

 

 

A quick and easy way to improve your writing immediately. I was able to walk away with a simple shift in thinking that automatically changed the way I approach a piece.

 

— Kyle Christopherson,
Minnesota Supreme Court

 

 

It worked! The people who attended are starting to let go of that old press release standard they teach in college and are embracing our more modern approach that has a better chance of being noticed by the trades.

 

— Katye Long,
public relations specialist,
Credit Union National Association

 

 

I keep Ann's Think Like a Reader checklist on a clipboard between my keyboard and monitor at all times.

 

— Nance Harris, ABC,
vice president, member services,
Nebraska Trucking Association

 

 

If you think you know it all, you don't. And even if you DO know it all, it is always helpful to be reminded. I've been doing PR for over 10 years and people like me are the ones most likely to stray from the path. Bottom line: remember your audience.

 

— Jennifer Massaro,
SupportSoft

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Master Think Like a Reader
— and receive the three free bonuses —
for a fraction of the cost
of learning this material any other way

Communicators have paid up to $225 to attend one of Ann Wylie's Think Like a Reader teleseminars. Of course, those attendees got to ask Ann questions at the end of the program. But they didn't receive the handbook, supplement or checklist. And they weren't able to listen to the program again and again to review and master key concepts.

Now you can receive the entire toolkit — the Think Like a Reader audio workshop and handout PLUS the Think Like a Reader handbook, supplement and checklist — for the special introductory price of just $127.

Gold member discount price: $97. You save $30.

Not yet a Gold member?

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Would you like to use
the Think Like a Reader toolkit
for a staff meeting or brown-bag lunch program?

This toolkit is a self-study program. Each toolkit comes with an individual license. That means you may listen to the audio workshop as many times as you like and even pass the toolkit around for your colleagues and friends to hear and read. However, you may not play the audio workshop in a group or make copies of any of the printed materials.

Would you like share Think Like a Reader with your entire team? Contact Ann's office to receive a 10 percent discount when you purchase 10 or more toolkits. Plus, Ann will send you a one-page guide for getting the most out of your toolkits in a group-study program.

Would you rather bring Ann in to present a customized on-site workshop on Think Like a Reader, where your group can ask questions, get feedback and hear Ann's analysis of your writing samples? Or would you like to have Ann present a customized teleseminar to your group? To get the details, contact Ann.

Start thinking like a reader now.

Order the Think Like a Reader toolkit today, and we'll rush it to you immediately. There's no reason to wait another minute to start making your copy more relevant, valuable and interesting to your readers.

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Serious about developing your skills? Get Ann’s Power Pack and save!