Choose Anglo-Saxon words, write to ‘you’ & more
More than 80 years of readability research demonstrate that short words are easiest to read and understand.… Read the full article
Concise Writing
What is word length, and why should you care?
Short words No. 1 predictor of readability
Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Barry spent eight years teaching businesspeople how to write better. As he told Time magazine:
“I’d lecture a bunch of chemists or engineers about the importance of not saying ‘It would be appreciated if you would contact the undersigned by telephone at your earliest possible convenience,’ and instead saying ‘Please call me as soon as you can.’
… Read the full articleWhat’s the best length of a word online?
The New York Times averages 4.9 characters
An editor once counseled me to change all the instances of employment in an article to jobs.
Great advice.… Read the full article
Measure, manage & report readability
4 more ways to use reading ease
Paying attention to readability will help you reach readers, improve communication and boost the bottom line. It can also help you manage writers, win debates during the approval process and report measurable communication success.… Read the full article
What is clarity in writing
Stop these institutional mistakes for readability
Want to make sure you’re not eradicating clarity in your organization?
Slaughter these problems instead, suggest Martin J. Eppler, Ph.D.,… Read the full article
How to improve clarity in writing
5 steps to simplifying your message
How can you clarify your message?
The authors of “Complex to Clear: Managing Clarity in Corporate Communication” developed this CLEAR mnemonic for simplifying your subject:
1.
… Read the full articleMeasure reading levels with readability indexes
How to calculate readability with the Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid and Gunning Fog tests
Since 1847, scholars and others have been measuring how hard copy is to read 1.… Read the full article
What’s the latest U.S. numeracy rate?
Fewer than 10% of U.S. adults are good with numbers
Just 9% of Americans can identify the percentage of men who had more than six years of schooling in 1970 from two stacked-column bar graphs representing how many years of schooling men and women in Mexico have had by decade.… Read the full article
What’s the latest U.S. literacy rate?
Just 2% of global adults read at top level
Little confession here: I’m a geek. While you’re out partying on Saturday night, I’m cuddled up with a warm study.… Read the full article
Why is readability important to your readers?
Readable messages help everyone
I recently attended a conference where the Nielsen Norman Group unveiled its latest eyetracking research. After more than 20 years in the lab, watching people read and respond to text, they reported this finding: