Should Business Copywriters Write for 5th Graders?
Experts will tell you that millions of Americans have a 5th to 9th grade reading level. Consider this quote from the Institute for Healthcare Advancement, as reported in the DTC Marketing blog–
“‘In a nation where an estimated 90 million American adults read no higher than a 5th grade level, most Web information is written at a level that requires 10th grade or higher reading comprehension skills, and this is unfortunate,’ said Gloria Mayer, R.N., Ed.D., president of IHA.”
Reading comprehension issues aside, a great deal of business copywriting is unnecessarily complex. Here are a few ways to simplify writing without dumbing it down.
1. Use common sense. If you’re writing a press release for a medical journal, it’s safe to assume that the physicians who read it will have more than a 5th grade reading level. On the other hand, if you’re writing Web content for a physician’s Web site, the patients who read it will likely have reading levels all over the board.
2. Don’t show off with fancy words. Whether you’re writing for professors or the general public, avoid the temptation to use an obscure word when a simple one will do. Obscure words obscure meaning and distract readers. As a matter of fact, the more complex the idea, the more important it is to find understandable words by which to convey it.
3. Keep sentence structure simple. Multiple clauses, semicolons and parenthetical phrases confuse, distract, and intimidate readers. For business writing, one or two ideas per sentence ought to be enough. Just use comma sense!
4. Strip away the adjectives. My New Year’s resolution was to do away with my adjectives. Yes, they are useful at times. But read your sentence without the adjectives and see whether you think it is weaker or stronger. I’m amazed at how often my meaning is clearer without descriptive frills.
5. Avoid a lecturing, professorial style. Nobody likes to be lectured or talked down to. If you’re writing a white paper or a strategic plan or even detailed product information, it’s easy to lapse into an academic style. You will be more persuasive and better understood if you avoid jargon, acronyms, passive voice, overly formal grammar, paragraph-long sentences and the like.
6. Use the right sounding boards. If you run your composition past someone and he/she doesn’t get it, you may have clarity problems. Or maybe not. Your sounding boards should resemble the audience you’re writing for. Otherwise, their feedback could be misleading.
7. Understand your subject thoroughly. I’ve discovered that most people who really know their subject have the ability to explain it in everyday terms. Right now I’m reading Ogilvy on Advertising, written by David Ogilvy, one of the most brilliant advertisers of all time. His ideas are immense, yet anybody can understand what he’s saying. In the end, almost any idea can be reduced to basic terms. However, if you don’t clearly understand the idea, you can’t boil it down. That, I think, is why overcomplicated writing often confuses. The writer himself has not thought things completely through.
I agree. All these things make writing more accessible to a wider audience. They also make it punchier for people who normally read wordy, academic or marketing blurbs.
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about why people write badly when they are generally able to communicate really well in the pub with a beer in their hand. I think it’s because they want to sound big and clever, like the people who write all the other badly-written stuff that surrounds them; not realising that it is badly written.
As you have an interest in business writing, would you like to review one or both of my eBooks?
The MAMBA Way To Make Your Words Sell
http://www.bookshaker.com/product_info.php?ref=49&products_id=109
and
The Easy Way To Be Brilliant At Business Writing
http://www.bookshaker.com/product_info.php?ref=49&products_id=126
If so, I will gladly email you a copy of either or both, needless to say FOC.
I look forward to hearing from you.
SUZE