Winter officially ends next week! (I just got back from Puerto Rico, and I'm already missing sun and warmth.)

This spring heralds big changes for both me and my company. I've launched my new website, with my new company name and my new email address. And with this issue, I'm officially kicking off my monthly e-zine, delivering short, practical writing and marketing tips straight to your inbox.

 

As of next week, I'm leaving Westchester County for the Garden State. I'll still work out of Manhattan, but my business address will change from the Upper East Side to Midtown. (I'll send out an official notice with details.)

 

If you have a minute, drop me a line. I'd love to hear what's going on with you, what you think of these changes and whether you have any specific topics you'd like to see in upcoming 'zines.

Enjoy the warmer weather.

 

 

How readable is your writing?

Do you know how many people actually read the words you write?

Whether or not you consider yourself a writer, your job probably requires some sort of written communication. How effective are you at getting your message across?

Pick up any manual on writing. Somewhere in the Ten Commandments of clear communication, you’ll see the rule about using short, simple sentences.

There’s a reason: it works.

It gets your point across. Quickly.

Following this rule doesn’t allow much room to impress readers with intelligence, vocabulary, cleverness or any other conceit you can imagine.

But this isn’t a bad thing. Because no one else is nearly as impressed with our words as we ourselves are. (Shall we have a moment of silence for the deflating ego?)

I’m not saying that everything should come out in short, choppy sentences. I’m just pointing out that keeping your message short increases the chances that someone else will read it. And isn’t that your goal?

The principle is simple: The shorter the words and the shorter the sentences, the more readable the text.

In fact, Microsoft Word even has a feature that measures the readability of a document.

It’s true. Those Starbucks-drinking miracle-workers outside of Seattle have thought of just about everything. (Except for tightening up a few security holes here and there.)

The tool is part of the spelling and grammar check, and it displays readability statistics. The program measures the average length of words and sentences. Then, it computes how easy—or not—it is to read the document.

To learn more about this feature—and how to make it work for you—reply to this message or send me an email with the subject line, “Readability.”