Say it Better

The Power of Plain Language and Horrible Consequences of Complexity

Imagine requiring all health insurance policies be written at an eighth-grade level so we could actually understand them – and compare our options.  Well Rhode Island passed a law to do just that.

Complexity often hides our real options.

And healthcare reform options would be much easier for citizens to understand and chose if Congress set that same standard for itself even though it is not a panacea. Ron Ashkenas elaborates on the power of plain language.  That way, it would be much harder for special interests to hide stuff in proposed legislation. 

Want to Write Obama’s Speech - Quickly?

Taking a short-cut to crafting a speech may not top Jon Favreau's or Peggy Noonan's talents yet it is easy and fun (and you're too late for Slate's contest). Using Adam Ostrow’s Obama Inauguration Speech Generator, you simply plug in verbs, adjectives and nouns.  If you are inspired by the result, then move on to offer the new administration your sage advice -  and recruit a team, Obama-style, to attract support for your idea. 

Before you know what kindness really is

To get off on the right foot for this weekend, I am sharing this poem by Naomi Shihab Nye. It is on my study wall, next to the big window that frames Angel Island out there in Richardson Bay. First read the poem then see it tossed into a Wordle salad of word art, thanks to the creative Jonathan Feinberg.

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.
~ ~ ~

Happy weekend,
Kare

Are Online Readers Grasping All Your Ideas?

Ever feel that someone stopped listening before you stopped talking? This problem extends to the web. Here’s why – and how you can increase the chance that readers will remember what you wrote.

Write So They'll Read it on Their Screen

Here’s a harsh wake-up call. As Jakob Nielsen notes, according to recent eye tracking and other research most people read just 20% of what you wrote in that blog post or online article. This is especially true if you have “above-average intelligence.” So, do you go for dumber readers or shorter articles and posts?

Tips for Those (Like You) Who Are Writing for a Smart Audience

1. Be brief
2. Outline your topic
3. Headline or otherwise separate subtopics
4. Present items in bullet and/or numbered format.
5. Skip “fancy formats” as they tend to look like advertising and thus ignore.

Do I still have your attention? (Presumably so since you’re quite smart.)

More Evidence: Why It DOES Pay to Be Brief

Hints:
#1: Although we spend more time on pages with more words and more information, we only spend 4.4 seconds more for each additional 100 words.

# 2: When one adds more words to that screen page, people will only read 18% of it. Ouch.

Tip: Like the pyramid style in good newspaper writing, include in the first paragraph the why, who, what, when and how.

Alternatively:
• Put your best example in the first sentence, followed by your summary sentence.
or
• Encapsulate your summary in the first sentence, followed by your best example in the second sentence.

Jacob offer more tips on writing for the web here and here and here here.

Considering the eye tracking research (and your smarts), I fear I may losing you so I’ll stop.
But first this confession. I must be in the dumber category because I enjoy the “feast” of reading longer posts and articles – when they are well-written – even online.