how to say more with less, two people whispering

How To Say More With Less

Give your readers more for less with the right amount of text

With so much information available online, it’s becoming more and more common for people to skim instead of read. That’s why it’s important to learn how to shave words down to their essence, and keep your audience interested in your content, without fumbling their attention.

Stick to your original point

Before you write your first word, establish the main message. The clear message you want your readers to absorb. Try to do it with 4 or 5 words. It will often end up as your headline. Remember, as a writer, your focus is your crucial weapon. It’s easy to confuse a harmless personal anecdote with adding your personality to the content, and it’s true- you should always be trying to personalize your content. However, try to think in one direction stopping thoughts that are  irrelevant to your final point from ending up on the page.  Stay laser-focused and stick to your main point throughout, because it’s so easy to wander from what you’re originally saying. Yes, we’re sure that story about your uncle was hilarious, but we’re talking about digital marketing here.

How educated is your audience on this topic?

We’ve all been there – you have so much to say but not enough words to say it. So how do you say more with less words? It all comes down to knowing your audience. Are you starting from scratch or do they have some background knowledge on the topic? You don’t want to bore your readers with explanations that are too simplistic, but at the same time you don’t want to assume that they know everything about the topic either. It’s a fine line to walk, but with practice you can strike the perfect balance. Trust me, your audience will thank you for getting to the point and not wasting their time with unnecessary fluff.

try not to explain everything as if you’re talking to a 5 year old if the people reading your blog probably already know what a website is.

Say, doesn’t this remind you of our last blog? This can tie in nicely to Evergreen content, where in that case, explaining something from the ground up is extremely useful- when you’re creating content, try to keep the longevity of your content in mind. Although we caution you to avoid over-explaining things, evergreen content might advise otherwise, read this blog for more info. 

Cut out the filler words

When you’re writing, try to think about how you can cut each sentence down to as few words as possible, but still get the entire meaning. To keep your readers engaged and keep your message clear, aim to use as few words as possible in each sentence. Short, concise sentences are much easier to follow than long, meandering ones. To achieve this, it can be helpful to break down your thoughts into individual sentences, and build off of those key points. By keeping things brief and direct, you’ll be able to get your message across with clarity and ease.

Everyone’s a skimmer

When there’s an endless stream of content waiting, who has time to pore over every word? But this trend isn’t just a problem for internet users—it’s affecting students too. Standardized testing has put pressure on kids to quickly scan for the most important information. This means that writers need to adapt to keep their readers engaged. The key is to shave down your writing to only the essential points, making sure your audience can easily find what they’re looking for. Even fiction writers have to be mindful of this trend; if the pacing slows too much, readers will abandon ship. You should always strive to get to the point and keep our readers engaged.

Conclusion

Your readers will respect you if you respect their time, and give them the information they want easily and without a ton of fluff. Keep it short and sweet, and your readers will keep coming back.

ReImagined Energy