I hope the headline made you smile...but I do have a point.
When it comes to writing advertising and direct marketing, simple is always better than complex.
It's not that people are stupid - they just don't have time to look up words, or figure out exactly what you mean. That's why simple words, shorter sentences and one or two-line paragraphs are always more readable.
A quick scan will show you whether or not your writing is easy-to-read and understand, but there is (of course) a more sophisticated tool for this.
It's called the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Score, and it was developed for the United States Navy in 1975, and is now available for over a dozen languages.
The way it works is it divides the number of words and even syllables, over the total number of sentences in any given document. Then it assigns a comprehension score - the higher, the better.
For example, Reader's Digest has a readability index of about 65, Time magazine has about 52. Any legal document you ever sign is probably around a 10.
To test your copy - in Microsoft word - visit www.docstoc.com/docs/19946512/Using-Microsoft-Word-to-Determine-Flesch-Kincaid-Reading-Levels
There are also many websites that enable you to test it automatically, for example, www.standards-schmandards.com/exhibits/rix/index.php
And by the way, this blog posting was rated 44 - so I think I need to work on it a bit more...
Bob Knight shared this tip with me. To receive his quarterly newsletter, write him at: b_knight@telus.net. You can also visit his website at http://www.symbiomarketing.com
