According to the 2022 book Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less, in writing, brevity is confidence and length conveys fear. Today’s readers are scanners whose brains can take just milliseconds to form an opinion of web content, just 26 seconds to read content, and need to be engaged immediately. Your readers’ decisions are underway: Click or scroll? Read or ignore? Remember or forget?
The messaging mantra of authors Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz: “Grab them, entice them, seduce them.”
Their formula:
- Grab your reader with your short powerful headline: tease, wow, scare.
- Next, what’s the main idea and its importance (bottom line up front).
- Then, explain why it matters to them.
- Bullets/numbered lists read best.
- Provide resources for a deeper dive (document, link, table, etc.).
Tips for getting your documents read and acted on:
- Taut is best.
- Optimal length of subject line: six words (best for viewing mobile phone screens).
- optimal length of main body: 200 words.
- Put your audience first. Write what they want or need to know.
- Use short and strong words, active verbs, and favor two syllable words.
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