Writing for Busy Readers

by Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink

Effective writing has a well-defined purpose.

Effective writing helps the writer as well as the reader.

Effective writing is not the same as beautiful writing.

There is a rigorous science underlying the rules of effective writing.

Effective writing is read in a context.

In this book, you will not find recycled lessons on how to write well, à la the classic book The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.

First, they must decide whether to engage with it at all. Second, if they decide to engage, they then must decide when to engage. Sometimes the decision to engage leads to a decision to engage later. Third, once they do engage, they must decide how much time and attention to allocate to reading the message. Fourth, if they read something that requires a response, they must decide whether to respond or react.

Estimating the expected benefits of a received message is only half of the calculation that busy readers make when deciding whether to engage with a communication. They also consider the costs involved: How much time and effort will be required to engage? Here, too, people apply rules of thumb to make this assessment. Their initial estimate of costs (measured in both time and effort) heavily influences readers’ decisions to engage.

In one instance, a full 99% of working professionals in a class we taught said they would respond first to a message that they perceived to be easier to deal with than to one that appeared more difficult.

DECIDING HOW TO ENGAGE Spoiler alert: Everyone skims.