Writing for Busy Readers: communicate more effectively in the real world

We were all taught the fundamentals of writing well in school. But how do we write effectively in today’s hyper-interactive world?


When The Elements of Style and On Writing Well were published in 1959 and 1976, the internet hadn’t been invented. Since then, there has been a radical transformation in how we communicate. The average adult receives over 100 emails and tens of text messages each day. With all this correspondence, gaining a busy reader’s attention is now a competition.


Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink, both behavioural scientists, offer practical writing advice you can use today. They begin by outlining cognitive facts about how busy people read, then detail six research-backed principles for effective writing:

• Use fewer words
• Lower the reading level
• Use formatting judiciously
• Make the purpose clear for skimmers
• Emphasise value for readers
• Make responding as easy as possible.

Including many examples, a checklist, and other tools for the most effective writing, this handbook will make you a more effective communicator. Rogers and Lasky-Fink bring conventional ideas about text-based communication into the 21st century’s radically transformed attention marketplace.

Todd Rogers is a professor of public policy at Harvard University, where he has won teaching awards for the past six consecutive years. A behavioural scientist and the co-founder of the Analyst Institute and Everyday Labs, his opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Politico, among others.

Jessica Lasky-Fink is a PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, a senior analyst at EveryDay Labs, and an associate fellow with the Office of Evaluation Sciences. Her research focuses on improving the delivery of social services by connecting low-income populations to government programs.