I read a piece by The Washington Post today.
It claimed 45’s speeches were right around the 6th grade level for readability.
I loath 45. But I also loath studies like this, and what they imply.
I’ll let you in on a secret. Before I send out a letter, I check its readability score. If it’s 8th grade or higher, I rewrite with simpler language.
For a speech addressed to 45's crowd, a score around the 6th grade level is just about perfect. Much higher, and people would stop paying attention.
(According to the article, Bernie Sanders generally scored in the high 8th grade level. We all know how far he made it….)
Why?
It’s very simple.
The higher the grammar grade level, the harder it is to read.
People will work to read something they’re interested in, but for things like speeches, advertisements, sales letters, and such – if it’s too hard to read, they’ll simply stop reading!
You want people to pay attention to your speech, or read what you write? Use simple language!
* This post scores on the Flesch-Kincaid scale at a 5.2 grade level.
How do I know that?
I wrote it in Microsoft Word.
Go into options. Under ‘proofing’ make sure to check the box ‘show readability statistics.’ Now, when you spell check your document, it will score it for readability as well.
It claimed 45’s speeches were right around the 6th grade level for readability.
I loath 45. But I also loath studies like this, and what they imply.
I’ll let you in on a secret. Before I send out a letter, I check its readability score. If it’s 8th grade or higher, I rewrite with simpler language.
For a speech addressed to 45's crowd, a score around the 6th grade level is just about perfect. Much higher, and people would stop paying attention.
(According to the article, Bernie Sanders generally scored in the high 8th grade level. We all know how far he made it….)
Why?
It’s very simple.
The higher the grammar grade level, the harder it is to read.
People will work to read something they’re interested in, but for things like speeches, advertisements, sales letters, and such – if it’s too hard to read, they’ll simply stop reading!
You want people to pay attention to your speech, or read what you write? Use simple language!
* This post scores on the Flesch-Kincaid scale at a 5.2 grade level.
How do I know that?
I wrote it in Microsoft Word.
Go into options. Under ‘proofing’ make sure to check the box ‘show readability statistics.’ Now, when you spell check your document, it will score it for readability as well.
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