110. Write It Well: How to Craft an Email to Capture Busy Readers
Summary
TLDRIn the podcast 'Think Fast, Talk Smart,' Matt Abrahams interviews Todd Rogers, author of 'Writing for Busy Readers.' They discuss strategies for effective writing in a world of busy readers who often skim content. Rogers emphasizes the importance of structure, clarity, and brevity, advocating for a reader-focused approach that prioritizes ease of navigation and understanding. The conversation covers the six principles from Rogers' book, including designing for navigation, the 'less is more' concept, and making reading easy with simple language. They also touch on the role of context, such as status and norms, in shaping written communication.
Takeaways
- π **Effective Writing Saves Time**: Writing clearly and effectively makes it easier for busy readers, saving them time and being considerate of their limited attention.
- π₯ **Focus on the Reader**: Effective writing is reader-focused, considering how readers actually engage with text, often by skimming rather than reading every word.
- π§ **Structure is Key**: Adding headings and structure helps readers navigate content quickly, making it easier to find key information.
- π **Less is More**: Concise writing that omits unnecessary details is more likely to be read and understood, even if it seems incoherent without full context.
- π€ **Simplify Language**: Using short, common words and simple grammar makes reading easier and more accessible to a broader audience.
- π **Eye-Tracking Research**: Understanding how people's eyes move when they read can inform writing practices to make text more scannable.
- π **Practical Writing**: The principles discussed are particularly relevant to practical writing like emails, texts, and reports, rather than creative or literary works.
- π€ **Engagement Matters**: Writers should consider how to capture and maintain a reader's attention, using strategies from behavioral science where appropriate.
- π **Emojis and Emoticons**: While emojis can be engaging, their use can be risky due to varying interpretations across different audiences and generations.
- π’ **Norms and Status in Writing**: The context of an organization and the status of the writer can influence the style and tone of writing, with higher status often correlating with brevity.
Q & A
What is the main focus of Todd Rogers' book 'Writing for Busy Readers'?
-The book focuses on how to write effectively for readers who are often busy and skimming through content, emphasizing clarity and ease of understanding.
According to Todd Rogers, why is it important to write in a way that reflects how people actually read?
-Writing in a way that reflects how people actually read ensures that the message is more likely to be understood and engaged with, as it accommodates the reality that many people skim rather than read thoroughly.
What does Todd Rogers mean by 'better living through effective writing'?
-He means that by making writing easier for readers, it saves them time and is kinder, which in turn improves everyone's lives by helping them navigate through information more efficiently.
How does the structure of a written piece aid readers according to the transcript?
-Adding structure such as headings and formatting helps readers navigate and understand the content more easily, especially when they are skimming.
What is one principle Todd Rogers suggests for effective writing and why is it important?
-One principle is 'less is more', which suggests that omitting unnecessary words and ideas can make the writing more concise and increases the likelihood of readers engaging with the core message.
Why does Todd Rogers advocate for the use of simple language and short sentences?
-Using simple language and short sentences makes the reading process less taxing and more accessible to a wider audience, including those with lower reading proficiency levels.
How does Todd Rogers view the role of word choice in effective writing?
-He believes that word choice should prioritize clarity and simplicity over impressing the reader with complex vocabulary, to ensure the message is easily understood.
What does Todd Rogers think about the use of lists and bullet points in writing?
-He thinks lists and bullet points are effective as long as they are used to organize related ideas, as they provide a clear structure that helps busy readers navigate the content.
How does Todd Rogers suggest writers increase a reader's engagement with their writing?
-Writers can increase engagement by making the reading experience as easy and relevant as possible, and then leveraging social and behavioral science tools to further capture interest.
What generational differences does Todd Rogers highlight regarding the use of emojis?
-He points out that different generations interpret the same emojis differently, with a smiley face, for example, signifying warmth and agreement to an older generation but sarcasm to younger individuals.
What is Todd Rogers' stance on setting communication norms within an organization?
-He believes that setting clear communication norms, such as the BLUF (bottom line up front) principle in the military, can make writing more effective and reduce the burden on lower-status writers.
Outlines
π Effective Writing for Busy Readers
Matt Abrahams interviews Todd Rogers, a professor at Harvard Kennedy School, about his book 'Writing for Busy Readers.' The conversation focuses on how to write effectively for a busy audience. Todd emphasizes that effective writing saves readers' time and is a kinder form of communication. He explains that writing should reflect how people actually read, which often involves skimming. To accommodate this, writers should add structure to their work, such as headings, to help readers navigate the content easily.
π The Importance of Structure and Clarity
The discussion continues with the importance of structuring content for easy navigation. Todd shares insights from academic research, including an experiment that showed shorter, less coherent messages can be more effective than longer ones. He advises writers to use fewer words and focus on key points to increase the likelihood of readers engaging with the message. The conversation also touches on the role of word choice and the benefits of using simple language and grammar.
π§ The Role of Emotion and Engagement in Writing
Todd and Matt explore the emotional aspect of writing and its impact on reader engagement. Todd points out that while emotional writing can be compelling, the primary focus should be on making the writing practical and easy to understand. They discuss the challenges of writing clearly and the importance of capturing the reader's attention, even when the content is dense or complex.
π― Setting Communication Norms for Clarity
The conversation shifts to the importance of setting communication norms within organizations. Todd discusses the concept of 'bottom line up front' (BLUF) from the US Army, which emphasizes putting the most important information at the beginning of the message. He suggests that establishing such norms can help writers be more effective and protect them from misinterpretation, especially those with lower status within an organization.
π The Recipe for Successful Communication
Todd outlines the key ingredients for successful communication: having a clear goal, understanding the context, and revising the message. He stresses the importance of knowing the audience's expectations and norms, and the necessity of revising the content to ensure it is clear and accessible. The discussion concludes with Todd sharing his admiration for Don Norman's user-centered design philosophy and its application to writing.
π Wrapping Up the Discussion on Writing
Matt summarizes the key points of the conversation with Todd, highlighting the need to make writing easy for busy readers, considering context, and the value of learning to write effectively. The episode ends with credits and a prompt for listeners to subscribe and follow the podcast on LinkedIn for more insights on communication.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Effective Writing
π‘Behavioral Insights
π‘Skimming
π‘Practical Writing
π‘Structure
π‘Less is More
π‘Eye-Tracking
π‘Engagement
π‘Bullet Points and Lists
π‘Context
Highlights
The importance of writing to engage busy readers and save them time.
Introduction to Todd Rogers, author of 'Writing for Busy Readers'.
Effective writing defined as making it easier for readers.
The impact of writing well on improving everyone's lives by being kinder and saving time.
The difference between effective writing and writing well.
The need to write in a way that reflects how people actually read.
The importance of adding structure to writing to aid navigation.
The concept of 'less is more' in writing to engage busy readers.
The idea of making reading easy with short common words and simple grammar.
The role of word choice in effective writing.
The application of behavioral science to increase reader engagement.
The use of lists and bullet points to aid reader comprehension.
The role of context, norms, status, and identity in writing.
The importance of setting communication norms within organizations.
The significance of revising writing to make it more accessible to busy readers.
Todd Rogers' pet peeve regarding the clarity of writing and its impact on readers.
The influence of Don Norman's user-centered design philosophy on writing.
The three key ingredients for successful communication according to Todd Rogers.
Transcripts
The bottom line is we must write so
that our readers will pay attention
and be engaged.
Today, we will learn how to become
better writers for busy readers.
My name is Matt Abrahams,
and I teach strategic communication
at Stanford Graduate School of
Business.
Welcome to Think Fast, Talk Smart,
The Podcast.
[MUSIC]
Today I really look forward to
speaking with Todd Rogers.
Todd is a professor of public
policy at the Harvard Kennedy
School of Government, and
is the faculty director of
the Behavioral Insights Group.
Todd teaches courses on the science
of behavior change, and
he has written a new book called,
Writing for Busy Readers,
Communicate More Effectively in
the Real World.
Todd, when you and I first got
a chance to speak a while back,
I felt like I was with a kindred
spirit, we both have such
a passion for communication.
Thanks for being here.
I'm super excited to chat with you.
>> Thanks for having me, Matt.
>> So let's get started.
My first question has to do with
one of the subheadings I found
in your book.
It caught my attention, it read,
better living through effective
writing.
First, I'd love for you to define
what you mean by effective writing.
And second, how does writing well
help us live better?
>> I love this question because I
think it is not initially obvious.
So, writing better
means making it easier for readers.
And the reason this improves
everyone's lives is because
it saves readers time, and
it's kinder.
Writing effectively makes it easy
for busy readers to navigate where
we send them, cool out the key
information, and do what
they're planning to do anyway.
We just move on through the next
day, and so it's more effective for
us and it's kinder to readers.
>> One thing that is very different
about the way you approach your
thoughts on writing is that you
focus on the reader, many others
focus on what is actually written.
Why is focusing on the reader so
important?
And what role does the reader's
context play in how we write
for them?
>> I think you're right that a lot
of the way we think about writing
is as if there are some idealized
form, writing well is the way you
were taught to write in high school
and college.
And that's successful writing.
What my co-author on a lot of this
work, including our book, and
I have come to believe is that
writing well is very different than
writing effectively.
And we should focus on,
how do we write effectively?
And what that means is we should
write in a way that reflects
the way people actually read.
And in the world, busy people
are just constantly skimming.
And no one cares about our
writing as much as we do, and
the default behavior when reading
is to move on and skip.
So we need to write in a way that
reflects and
accommodates the reality that
people are skimming what we write.
>> I agree, I skim all the time.
Sometimes that gets me in trouble.
What looks different in our
writing?
What actually tactically in
terms of the sentence structure,
the words we use, what's different
when you're writing for people who
skim, versus people who are trying
to demonstrate that they actually
did their homework in a class?
>> Right, so when someone is
skimming, they are jumping around,
they are trying to pull out,
not linearly, they're just trying
to jump around and figure out
what's this about, do I need to do
something, and when can I move on?
And so, when we watch with eye
tracking, we see the people
dart around and they try to get
the gist of what we're saying
without reading it closely.
So what that means is we want to
add structure, one of our six
principles is designed for
navigation.
Make it easy to design what we
write for readers.
So add headings, add structure, so
that a reader who jumps around can
easily figure out what's going on.
And that means that the key points
are up top, what this contains, so
they can orient themselves.
They can jump
around using headings,
that you can use formatting to draw
attention to key information.
But in addition to writing complete
sentences that flow from one side
to the next and had active verbs,
we also need to write in a way that
just reflects the reality
that our readers are jumping around
when they read.
And so that means writing with
structure.
>> Well, you're preaching to
the choir here.
And part of the reason I think you
and I get along so well is we both
believe very strongly in structure.
And when I was doing research for
the new book I have coming out,
I spoke with somebody who works for
the Dummies organization,
all those Dummies books.
And she talked to me about
wayfinding, how when you write,
you need to think about helping
people find their way through
your content.
And that's what I heard you just
talking about, that structure helps
people find their way in terms of
what it is they're specifically
looking for, and I think that's so
important, and
thank you for highlighting that.
You mentioned that your book has
six principles
that can help busy readers.
I love that your principles
are based on
academic social science research,
I think that's so important.
Can you pick two other principles
beyond structure that you
believe are really important?
And can you give us some concrete
advice on how to apply those?
>> Sure, so one is less is more.
And we've run lots and
lots of randomized experiments that
have something like this structure.
We ran an experiment with a large
political organization with a wrote
a fundraising email that was
six paragraphs.
In one condition,
with 350,000 people, they got
the full fundraising message.
In the other condition, we deleted
every other paragraph arbitrarily.
People read them both and
thought it was incoherent
in the shorter one, because we just
arbitrarily deleted paragraphs.
And yet, the three-paragraphed one
raised more money than the longer
one, even though it was incoherent,
just less is more.
Both in omitting needless words,
that's easy.
Of course,
if words are actually needless,
cut them, great.
The harder choices are omitting
useful, but not necessary words, or
useful but not necessary ideas.
And the idea is just the more you
keep, the less likely it is that
someone will read and
respond to our message.
So there's not a right answer to
how much to keep, we just need to
know there's trade-offs,
the more you add, the less likely
people are to read and engage.
But if they do,
they're going to get more content.
So, fewer words, but
also not just needless words, also
sometimes we have to make judgment
calls where we eliminate useful
detail that would just deter or
distract from our core point.
>> So it seems to me that we have
to be very mindful of what we write
and think about the reader's
perspective.
I think a lot of us are under such
pressure just to get ideas down
that we don't really think about
prioritizing what's important for
the reader, and making those
tradeoffs you talked about.
Before I ask you to share one more
of your principles, how much
does word choice play into this?
I mean, sometimes I read things
where people I think are purposely
trying to impress me with their
vocabulary, when in fact,
I think simpler might be better.
So less is more,
I also think simpler language
use might be better.
What do you think?
>> The second principle I might
share is that make reading easy.
That means short common words,
short sentences, simple grammar.
And the idea here is that it is
easier to read writing
that is written in this way.
So it requires less effort,
it's less taxing,
it's more pleasant,
easy exacts to read.
Additionally, it's accessible to
more people.
So this is a second point,
in addition to.
Just being more likely to be read
and responded to.
It also is more accessible and
inclusive.
So the median US adult reads at
a ninth-grade reading level.
Very often,
when we write these sentences,
they're complex.
They're complete.
They're beautifully written
with flowing pros, but
they're kind of inaccessible to
a large chunk of potential readers.
And one of my favorite parts about
writing the book and
I imagine you had the same
experience reading your book.
I love learning
about this literature that I had
never encountered before.
One of these huge areas of research
is on eye tracking how people's
eyes move when they read.
And if you can get people to read,
actually attentively,
carefully read, which is rarely
the way we actually read, but if
you get people to read like that,
what you see is a word, word, word,
word period.
And then at the period they pause
for the period pause effects, and
they sit there making it as if they
are making sense of did I get
the whole idea?
And if they didn't,
they go backwards and
they jump backwards and reread.
That's a pin.
It's cognitively difficult,
it requires effort, it makes people
less likely to continue.
Given that everyone, especially if
it's kind of practical writing,
text, email, reports, pitches.
They got lots of things in their
queue.
And so the easier we make
the reading, the faster it is it'll
be for the reader to get through
and the more accessible it'll be to
more people.
>> I love that eye-tracking
behavior, that's fascinating to me.
Thank you for sharing that.
I had never thought about that.
But sure, you can actually measure
if we're making it difficult.
I have two follow-up questions if
you'll allow me, Todd.
One, it strikes me that if I
write in a way that is easier for
my reader to digest, that I
am actually making that experience
a little more pleasant for them.
They're not as frustrated.
How does emotion play in what
you write?
I can imagine that if I write
something, that the material I'm
covering is emotional in nature.
That can be helpful in
some ways, right?
Because people are engaging
in a different way, but also their
experience of reading might bring
about an emotion as well.
I mean, I remember back in high
school when I was having to read
texts that I was not that
interested in, I
got frustrated when I was reading.
I'm not going to mention any books
because I don't want anybody to see
what I found offensive but
what are your thoughts on that?
>> The kinds of writing that I'm
mainly, so this book is co-authored
with my long-time co-author
Jessica Lasky Fanke, and the kind
of writing that we're really
focused on, and this all originated
with advising organization leaders
during the pandemic, communicating
to their stakeholders and
employees and constituents,
is practical writing.
When we are writing to our families
by text or
to our colleagues by email or Slack
or in sales proposals to potential
clients or current clients.
It's practical writing and so,
it's not going to be the literature
that we sometimes associate with
when we think of good writing.
So how do we write
practical writing?
That said, there are ways to be
more persuasive and
more compelling.
All of that is conditional,
or rather, requires that people
are paying attention.
And so, I have spent the last 20
years developing interventions to
increase people's likelihood
of voting, or increase people's
likelihood of choosing healthy
foods or increasing students'
likelihood of going to school by
communicating with family.
In all those with these
interventions in the field to
change behaviors,
what I only recently realized is
that seems zero.
What precedes all of the persuasion
and behavioral science that I and
my colleagues have been developing
is do they pay any attention to
what we're sending them,
to our communications.
And very often if it's very dense,
they just don't even bother
engaging at all.
Or if they do engage,
they engage superficially before
just moving on and say,
I'll get back to that later.
And so for me, the big context is
how do we get to the, before we can
be emotionally evocative or
persuasive or structure things
using different kinds of framing,
we need to write in a way that
people will engage and
process deeply enough to even get
our messages through.
>> I want to come back to this
question of engagement because I
think it's very critical.
But before I do,
you said writing simply and
using structure can help.
Do you have data or
an opinion on the use of lists and
bullet points?
Because at one level,
a list in bullet points, to me,
appears structured and it,
in many ways, is simpler than prose
with subjects, nouns, etc.
But I also know that processing
lists can be hard for people.
What's your take on bullet points
and lists to help people read
what's written better?
>> Assuming that they are used to
organize related ideas.
I think lists are fantastic,
like bullet points, for example.
So typically there is
an agreed-upon meaning of bullets.
We all agree that if there's
a sentence and then a bunch of
bullet points, that each of
the bullet points resembles each
other in some way, in some kind.
And they are all related to
the proceeding sentence, and so
that licenses the reader if they
understand what
the proceeding sentence
was to just skip the bullets
if it's not relevant to them.
But it also tells them that each
bullet is an independent idea and
that they're distinct.
Again, the goal through everything
is how do we make it easier for the
readers to navigate and understand
what we're trying to convey.
>> You have changed my perspective,
so thank you for that.
I have actively dissuaded people
from using bullet points and lists,
but I see their value in a written
form.
I still think I hold my position
that when you're speaking and
you're putting a slide up behind
you, that lists can be
challenging for your audience.
So I appreciate the balance we have
to find of leveraging visual
structure through bullet points and
lists without going overboard and
doing too much.
Which brings me back to the idea
that you mentioned just a bit
ago around engagement.
I'd love for you to talk about
how readers choose to engage or
not with writing and
give me specifically some
techniques that writers can use to
increase a reader's engagement.
I gave a talk today at an academic
conference where I opened with
raise your hand if you've ever
received a text message, and
you looked at it, and you're like,
I can't deal with this now, and
you postpone dealing with it and
everyone's hand goes up.
And then I said keep your hand up
if it has ever happened,
that you didn't get back to it.
And everyone's hands stays
up, right?
Which is exactly the shortest mode
of communication that's possible,
which is our text messages.
Even those people look like I just
can't deal with that.
That's the first version of
disengagement which is not even
processing it at all or
figure out what it's about.
That's like the first version of
not engaging at all.
The second stage is when you're
reading, how deeply do you
engage versus do you really read
sentence by sentence or
are you darting around?
And very often it's just darting
around.
And so there are strategies you can
use that a lot of it is influence
and behavioral science on
increasing people's interest or
personal relevance of content or
the pleasure they get in
the language you use.
But for us, starting point is,
let's just make it as easy as
possible for
the reader to leave the message
with the key information
we're trying to get back.
And from there,
then we can start to leverage these
other tools of social and
behavioral science.
So we just gotta get them to focus
and pay attention.
So this breeds another question,
obviously this isn't appropriate
for all writing.
What role do icons, emoticons,
emojis have?
Because in some ways those
are engaging,
I will look at a text that has
emojis in it in a different way
than one that just have words.
Do you have a position on that?
Is there research behind that?
>> I love the phrase,
do you have a position on it?
The only thing Majeska and I have
a position on is that our readers
are busy and we need to write
in a way that makes it as easy for
them to read what
we are sending them as possible.
That will be most effective for
us in achieving our goals as
writers and
it also pinder by saving them time.
That said there's been a bunch of
research on emojis that I think is
really fun, one,
there are lots of courts, federal,
state, international courts
that have ruled on the meaning of
emojis in financial documents.
It wouldn't surprise you if I told
you that a bunch of crypto
communications sometimes involves
emojis and courts have tried to
interpret what those mean as
contractually binding or not.
That's interesting enough, but
here's the most interesting thing.
There are surveys showing that
different generations, me being
a middle-aged guy versus my kids,
will interpret the same emojis
meaning something different.
So a smiley face to me means
warm feelings, probably agreement,
maybe humor and to my 13 year old
daughter, a smiley face means
sarcasm, and irony.
And so even just those kinds
of generational differences mean
that wow, emojis are dangerous for
clarity.
Because they are interpreted
different ways by different people.
That's just generational,
you can imagine different people
have different meanings for
different emojis.
So I think they have a place as
long as you know your audience, and
they are unambiguously both
appropriate, meaning
they somehow fit the norms of your
organization and you confidence
that it can be interpreted the way
you think it is.
>> I give you a thumbs up emoji
on that answer, and to me,
that means a good answer.
I think the jury is still out,
literally and figuratively, so
thank you.
You mentioned norms, and
I want to dig into that,
you talk in your book about norms,
status, and identity.
What do you mean by this, and
why does it even matter for
the writing that we do?
>> We are most effective
when we make it easy for a reader
to read what we're sending them.
And one of the things we talked
about is using fewer words,
fewer ideas, shorter.
Another is writing simply.
Another is designing it,
adding structures to it and
you said wayfinding throughout
the writing, like navigation.
Those are generally true, but
different people in different
contexts with different norms have
different expectations on them when
they write.
So when there are a bunch of state
department emails that were
released where lower status people
writing up, wrote longer,
more indirect messages.
Whereas higher status people
communicating down were shorter and
more direct.
If you are lower status,
there's a lot of like defensive
writing where you're not sure how
you're going to be interpreted.
You are very concerned about how
you're going to be understood and
what people
are going to think of you.
So, you as a writer,
any person listening,
has to really navigate the unequal
burdens on writers and
the way we are interpreted.
But the thing that is universally
true is that the person you
are writing to is busy and
probably skimming.
And so you want to make
it as easy as possible for them.
One thing that I teach when I teach
with leaders that how to
communicate, and
I hope this resonate with you
having read your book, that one
thing readers can do is set norms
for how do we communicate?
>> Yeah.
>> And in the US Army there is
a regulation an actual
codified regulation called BLUF,
bottom line up front an enlisted
person writing to a general.
Bottom line up front,
first sentence is the bottom line.
A general writing down to
an enlisted person.
Bottom line up front,
first sentence is the bottom line
and by making that a rule and
a norm in the organization,
it easier for writers to make sure
that they're effective.
It's easier for
readers because they know exactly
where to get the bottom line.
And it also protects the lower
status people from the kind of
burden of getting ambiguous
concerns about how they're going to
be interpreted.
So, as leaders we just set the
norms, to make it more effective
and all tech lower status writers.
>> That point is so critical and
one I think all of us
should think about in the roles we
serve in organizations.
What's important is the information
we convey, but we can also help set
the norms and expectations for
what that communication should look
like and read like.
And I don't think many
organizations do that,
save maybe the military or
some governmental agency or
something highly regulated.
I think that's a wonderful idea,
I often encourage the organizations
I consult to think about their
communication infrastructure.
And I'm talking about do you
use email versus Slack
versus texting for certain things.
I think they should add to that
this notion of what makes for
good writing and how can we make it
easier on the people who are doing
the reading?
So thank you.
>> So Garth before we end I'd like
to ask you a series of questions
two of them are similar across all
our guests and then I have one
random question I'm going
to ask her are you up for that?
>> Let's do it. >> All right,
let's start with the random
question first, what is a pet peeve
of yours that bothers you in
the writing that you see of people?
>> Writing can serve at least two
purposes.
One is clarifying our thinking and
the other is communicate that
magical idea of getting an idea
from my head into your head without
us directly interacting.
The second on is magic, but
the first one is also helping us
clarify our own thinking.
And I think what can be frustrating
as a reader is if people don't
realize those are two separate
things.
And when they're writing they write
starting wherever they thought they
were starting and
ending in a different place.
And at the end is where they really
want the key message to get
across to me.
And would probably be better if
they took the perspective how do
we make it easier for the reader?
The reader doesn't need to know
where you started, the reader needs
to know with the key information.
But those are two different
functions and editing and
revising is the key to getting from
the first essay.
>> Well put.
My pet peeve is along those lines.
It's people who start from
an assumption that you're where
they're at.
It's that curse of knowledge and
that really can be frustrating and
sometimes very intimidating.
So, question number two, and
you can take this as any
type of communication,
written, spoken, etc.
Who is a communicator
that you admire and why?
>> I'm going to take this,
I think a direction others had not.
I really like the approach of
Don Norman, who is the founder of
User-Centered Design,
and wrote a book called
The Design of Everyday Things.
And I'm not talking about
his writing though, he's prolific.
He's, like, basic philosophy is
if you've designed an object and
the user interacts with it, and
does not understand how to use it,
it's on you, the designer.
It's never the user's fault,
it's always the designer's fault.
And that design is a form of
communication, and Jessica and
I have that basic philosophy when
it comes to practical writing.
Even if my writing is super clear
and if you had read the whole
thing, you'd understand why we're
doing this, what time it is,
where it's happening, and
what you're supposed to bring.
If I send it to you and you don't
pull those information pieces from
it, that's on me, not on you.
It's always on the writer to make
sure it gets through to
the busy reader and
it's not just about clarity.
It's about actually accommodating
the fact that this person, that our
readers are busy and skimming.
>> Very important, the design
of your messages matters.
Final question, what are the first
three ingredients that go into
a successful communication recipe?
>> Three things, goal, context,
and revising.
Goal, we have to know what we're
trying to accomplish.
And maybe writing can help us
figure that out, but we have to be
super clear on our goal.
And then from there, we write and
we have to know our context.
What are the norms?
What are the expectations?
How are we going to be interpreted?
How much detail is expected of us
or needed or wanted.
And then revising is applying
the six principles of writing for
busy people, which
we've talked about three of them.
But so it's clarity of goal,
knowing your context and revising.
Unfortunately, all of them
are hard [LAUGH] >> But
necessary in the work I do around
oral communication, speaking,
they're identical.
This notion of iteration is
critical and it's a process.
Many of us just think,
I gotta get it out and it's done.
But it's actually an iterative
process and I appreciate that.
As do I appreciate this whole
conversation, Todd,
you certainly didn't disappoint,
your information was very valuable.
Allow me to structure it clearly.
Point one, people are busy right to
make it easier for them.
Point two we have to consider the
context when we write and context
includes norms, status, etc.
And point three, learning to write
better is something that you
can do and it's worth the effort.
Todd, thank you so much.
I wish you well on all that you do,
especially with your book, Writing
for Busy Readers, Communicate
More Effectively in the Real World.
Thank you.
>> Thank you, Matt.
[MUSIC]
>> Thanks for joining us for
another episode of Think Fast, Talk
Smart, the podcast from Stanford
Graduate School of Business.
This episode was produced
by Jenny Luna, Ryan Campos, and me,
Matt Abrahams.
Our music was provided by
Floyd Wonder.
For more information and episodes,
find us on YouTube or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Thank you.
And please make sure to subscribe
and follow us on LinkedIn.
[MUSIC]
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