I read a lot. Not much for pleasure, it seems, but between research articles, books for class, assignments and Web content, I read a lot. And I’m often frustrated with dense paragraphs, hard-to-decipher thesaurus-speak and unclear emphases.

I have some instincts and some knowledge by osmosis of basic design principles that apply to making your copy reader friendly. That’s the part of the equation that we’re going to chat about today. The other part is that your writing should be concise and meticulously on point. Every word, every sentence, every paragraph has purpose.

I read assignments like I’m a member of the audience it’s intended for. The assignments I’m reading this fall are mostly meant for clients (reports, plans, etc.). Once you’ve edited and reedited, these tips can help your message get through, regardless of who you’re trying to reach.

• Befriend white space – the space without words on the page gives the eye a place to rest. When powering through a 10 or 15 page PR plan, this can make the difference between an irritated reader who is just trying to find the point and one that follows your logic and keeps up with your best ideas.

• Focus on short paragraphs – frequent paragraph breaks allow the eye to transition from point to point easily and soak up the main point. A good rule of thumb is to keep your paragraphs to no more than for lines. Massive paragraphs that take up half the page are not reader friendly. Best case scenario, this makes me cranky. Worst case, I choose not to read it and you lose points (aka budget dollars, credibility, etc.). Of note: if you’re writing for the web, or in an email, consider even shorter paragraphs.
• Slow the eye with bullet points – when your reader is scanning through your short paragraphs with ample white space, bullet points and numbered lists can slow your reader down and ensure that your key points stick. Of course, I’m assuming that you’re making good points to begin with. Bullet lists also help your reader understand steps in a process (awfully handy for, say, a plan).
• Selectively use fancy formatting – ALL CAPS is difficult to read as is underlining. Don’t highlight or use more than two fonts in any given document. For emphasis use bold and italics. For example, one might bold the key point of each item on a bullet list. ahem.
• Think about margins – use ragged right margins, rather than justification for easier flow from line to line. I also prefer flush margins on the left with a hard return between each paragraphs (like the alignment in this blog post), rather than an indented paragraph with no space between.

What tips do you have for making your copy reader-friendly?

No, this isn’t a quiz. It’s an invitation to write during this winter break. You’re often writing term papers and assignments for PR classes and other formulaic sorts of things. Try spending the break writing something for fun. Journal a bit or start a blog about something you enjoy (not necessarily something that will win you accolades from a future employer).

For example, I was talking to one of the instructors in the magazine major at Oregon’s Journalism School and telling her how rarely I get to write feature-length article-type pieces. So when I’m required to, it’s not easy. It’s a writing muscle that, for me, rarely gets flexed. I wish I could write longer pieces more often.

What do you wish you had time to write?

I’ve been talking a lot this year about writing with a human voice. Drop the lingo, leave the jargon and edit out the “corp speak.”

Whether you’re writing a letter to employees about a company shake-up, writing compelling public relations materials such as releases, backgrounders or fact sheets, or penning a speech, it’s becoming more vital to communicate in a human voice.

This terrific example from Nedra at Spare Change is from Zichron Menachem – The Israeli Association for the Support and Assistance of Children with Cancer and their Families. The letter has been translated from the original Hebrew. An excerpt…

I want to thank you for your partnership with Zichron Menachem — for helping make a very difficult time, a bit easier. And I want you to know that how successful your effort is, every time I see a bashful smile from those mirrors, trying to love what they see. And they succeed.

This letter is amazing. The emotional (and human) connection of the words on the page not only reinforces the donor’s decision, but paints of picture of those who the precious gift of hair will serve.