KISS - The Smoochy Approach to Easy to Read Content
October 10, 2008
KISS - Keep it simple silly.
It’s easy to become mired in the amount of information you have to share and the amount of content you want to cover. However, too much information crammed into an article, particularly an article intended to be published online, sends the reader into a state of confusion and whoosh they’re gone. You’ve lost them.
As readers, we don’t want to wade through an article to pick out the nuggets of beneficial information. We want them laid out for us; readily apparent and easy to read.
Writing this type of content can be tricky. Here are a few tips to get started:
#1 Define the goal for your piece.
- Are you trying to show people how to do something?
- Are you introducing a new concept?
- Are you singing the praises of a product or service?
- Are you hoping to inspire?
- Incite?
#2 Make your point.
Once your goal is established list 3-5 points required to achieve your goal. They must be directly related to your goal for the article. For example, if you’re striving to show people how to accomplish something then a paragraph on how great a product is will only distract from your goal.
#3 Summarize.
A client of mine once said - "Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em, tell ‘em, and then tell ‘em what you told ‘em and then tell ‘em why."
Now what if you want to double up on goals?
What if you want your how to article to also sell a product or a service? Tread carefully! Write your article with your main goal in mind and then go back and insert a few sentences, where appropriate, to help you accomplish your secondary goal.
OR
Tighten your focus - Write your how to article using the product or service you’re promoting. Rather than "How to Groom Your Dog" your article becomes "How to Groom Your Dog Using Environmentally Safe Products." Now you can mention your products or services as you go through your step-by-step points.
Happy writing!
Last 5 posts by Annette
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Great points Annette! I’m trying to follow a similar outline in my videos. But since I’m doing them a bit more improvised I don’t hit every point you mention. I’ll keep working on it!
Thanks Roger! Writing videos are a bit trickier! It’s still important to stay on track but there’s so much more to them I think - personality really plays a role.