As with speaking one of the quickest ways to lose your audience ti to circle around the topic or by indulging in the proverbial ‘beating-about-the-bush’. There is an old sales letter adage that if you don’t capture your audiences attention in the first ten words you have lost them. Get to the point quickly, use headings and bullet points, never have more than 27 words in a sentence and less is better.
According to Ann Wylie of http://comprehension.prsa.org/?p=217 ‘The longer your sentences, the less your readers will understand and according to research by the American Press Institute a study shows that:
• When the average sentence length in a piece was fewer than eight words long, readers understood 100% of the story
• Even at 14 words, they could comprehend more than 90% of the information
• However if you move up to 43-word sentences, comprehension dropped below 10%
• Even at 14 words, they could comprehend more than 90% of the information
• However if you move up to 43-word sentences, comprehension dropped below 10%
Bottom line: To improve understanding, break sentences up or condense them.’
c) Clarity
Newspaper, magazines, blogs and many other articles have headings and so should you.
From P. Mathew www.articlealley.com/article_1568981_50.html
“Write in paragraphs that are short and convey a single thought that is briefly explained. Bulleting your sentences and maintaining lists improves readability and helps keep your ideas short and simple to read and understand.”
As I was taught it is always better to use simple words rather than long complicated ones and avoid jargon and anagrams.
Comprehension of a piece of writing can be calculated using what is known as a SMOG index and if you search for this on the web you can find a number of excellent articles that will explain how to calculate this so you check your writing effectiveness.
I still remember a boss that would send back lending submissions I had written with bright red notations “so what” at the end of sentences. To ensure clarity you need to follow the “so what” idea when reviewing your work to clarify what you are trying to transmit.
Example: The business’s gearing ratio is 2.5:1 The so what could be: This is way below the industry average of 4.2:1 and has reduced considerably over the last three years indicating a healthy financial trend.
And again from Pramila Mathew “Always keeping your goal in mind: If you lack a substantive goal, your readers can easily lose interest in your message. The rule of the thumb here is: start with an idea, and end it with the same.”
Rule 2 Read, Practice and Research like a Journalist
If you are going to an effective writer you will need to become an avid reader. You should read at least one or two books a month, preferably on topics related to your career or area of expertise or professional discipline. You can practice your writing by doing summaries of concepts you uncover in your reading, You will also I suggest need to read a serious newspaper each day and any industry magazines that relate to your work.
As you can see from this blog post I have used information written by other writers on the topic and with internet search it is easy to gain more facts or ideas about your topic. By doing research you can support your ideas with the help of other and broaden the perspectives you offer the reader.
Finally to improve your writing skills you should sit down and write at least one small ‘article’ a week – or more often if possible – on a topic related to your profession.
Perhaps a blog is a great place to start if you want to become a more effective writer.
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