Say What You Mean

Say What You Mean Say What You Mean Say What You Mean By Michael One of the most influential teachers of writing was Rudolf Flesch. I encountered him through an out-of-print book called On Business Communications, formerly titled Say What You Mean. Only later did I discover that he also wrote the 1955 educational critique Why Johnny Cant Read. His other titles include The Art of Plain Talk, The Art of Readable Writing, How to Write Better you get the idea. Flesch practiced what he preached: everything Ive read by him was superbly readable, even entertaining. Throughout most of On Business Communications, Flesch fights a battle against business and government communication that is formal for its own sake, neglecting the very purpose of communication, which is to say something. We all tend to write the way we think were expected to write, instead of pondering the best way to meet our readers needs. Flesch fought the common belief that official writing must be boring or stuffy, or else nobody will respect it. The documents of the U.S. Social Security Administration became a little easier to read after they hired Rudolf Flesch as a consultant. Flesch was a pioneer of readability testing. His simple Flesch–Kincaid Readability Tests are still used by educators to assign appropriate grade levels to reading material. The more syllables in a word, the more words in a sentence, the more difficult an article is to read. You can test the readability of any web page against Fleschs formula at Juicy Studio. But readability goes beyond mathematical calculations. How a reader feels about an article influences whether he or she will understand it or even finish reading it. When people open a new book or magazine, they may subconsciously scan it to see if its reader-friendly. Do they see lots of periods? That means short sentences. Lots of white space? That may mean short paragraphs. Do they see exclamation points and question marks? That means that it isnt straight, routine exposition. A potential reader may subconsciously look for personal pronouns. That actually increases readability, because it suggests that the author is writing about people, and people are interesting. Does the book or article contain vocabulary that you wouldnt expect to see, such as the word puppy in a chemistry article? That suggests that it contains metaphors and analogies, which are easier to understand, and not just chemical formulas. Does it contain specific nouns at all? Seeing the word Weimaraner in an article gives me more hope of an interesting read than dog or animal. Flesch taught the importance of personality and personal connection in writing. A reader is not merely a customer, he or she is a human being like yourself, looking for reassurance and connection. We all want to hear, Im sorry about that, I know what you mean, I found the answer to your question, I solved your problem, and Thank you so much! Sentences like those appear all too rarely in business and government writing, and Flesch said there is no good reason why they shouldnt. Flesch had a special gift for helping to simplify legal language and theres a special reason for that. In one instance, he condensed a paragraph of gobbledy-gook into something like, These people have owed you $10,000 for two months. If they dont pay by next month, I think you should sue. Many clients might worry whether writing so simple can still be legally binding. Not to worry. Before he came to the United States, Rudolf Flesch was a lawyer in Vienna. You can find the book on Amazon.com Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Book Reviews category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Signs and Symbols You Should Know50 Idioms About Roads and PathsHow Do You Fare?