“Almost nobody listens to or reads most of what you write.”
That’s a tough pill to swallow for those of us who put pen to paper for a living.
It’s also a message we need to hear, according to Jim VandeHei, a former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal journalist and founder of Politico and Axios.
VandeHei espouses a radical rethink of how we communicate, especially how we write. Why? Because technology informs us how our audiences consume information and the harsh and humbling reality is hardly anyone is reading the content we’re producing.
The data informs us that most people skim, at best. They might look at a headline, but they don’t read the article.
Most people will even share on social media content which they haven’t read.
A longitudinal study by the University of Maryland found that even when we determine that something is important, we spend an average of just 26 seconds looking at it.
VandeHei has coined the term ‘smart brevity’ to refer to the efficient delivery of essential content, be it for internal or external consumption.
How to become a vastly more effective communicator
- Stop being selfish. Put your audience first. What does your audience really need to know? What does your audience care about?
- Be efficient. Use as few words, as few sentences as possible. “The greatest gift you can give your audience is their time back.”
- Remember the 26 second rule. What is the most important thing you want to convey to your audience? If you had only 26 seconds, what would you want them to remember?
- Write like a human. Don’t try to show off in your writing because people won’t think you’re smart. “If was talking to you in a bar, I’m not going to use SAT words and acronyms.”
Follow this advice and Jim VandeHei believes you will start to think more clearly, write more clearly, talk more clearly – and your audience will thank you.
