May 18, 2013

Rev Up Readership

Lift your ideas off the page or screen with display copy

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“I’ve seen our Corporate Communications team embrace the techniques and apply them to many of our communications vehicles. It has re-invigorated and refreshed many of our communications — internal and external.”
— Jeanine Penticoff, manager, Marketing Communications, Alliant Energy

Sixty percent of your audience members aren’t reading your copy, according to estimates by professors at the University of Missouri. So how can you craft communications that reach nonreaders?

In this program, you’ll learn how to use your display copy — headlines, decks and subheads, for instance — to pull readers into your copy, make your piece more inviting and even communicate to flippers and skimmers.

Specifically, you’ll learn how to:

  • Reach “readers” who spend only three minutes — or even just 30 seconds — with your piece
  • Reach audience members with the piece of display copy that 95 percent of people read — but that many communicators drop
  • Run a simple test on your copy to ensure that you lift your ideas off the page for flippers and skimmers
  • Make your copy 47 percent more usable by adding a few simple elements
  • Use a dollar bill to make your copy more reader friendly
  • Increase reading for skimmers and those whose attention is beginning to wane