What writers and others say
“To Fred, those years seemed to pass like quickly skimming a book and then finding the ending wasn’t what he expected. He wished he’d paid more attention to the story.”
— Sarah Addison Allen
“He has only half learned the art of reading who has not added to it the more refined art of skipping and skimming.”
— Arthur Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
“Break it up. Break it down, so readers can read up.”
— Elizabeth Bolen, manager, global ethics communications (international), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
“Reading aloud means no skipping, no skimming, no cutting to the chase.”
— Anne Fadiman
“I don’t divide the world into ‘loyal readers’ and ‘scanners.’ I suspect all readers are scanners.”
— Don Fry, faculty member at The Poynter Institute
“Johnny can read. He just doesn’t very much.”
— Mario R. Garcia and Pegie Stark, authors, Eyes On the News: The Poynter Institute Color Research
“Scanning instead of reading is not a sign of human slothfulness. Web users have learned that scanning is far more efficient than reading.”
— Kara Pernice, Kathryn Whitenton and Jakob Nielsen, the authors of How People Read on the Web
Lift Ideas Off the Page
Some 60% of your audience members aren’t reading your copy, according to estimates by professors at the University of Missouri.
Learn to reach nonreaders with words at Catch Your Readers — an online persuasive-writing workshop on Oct. 5-9.There, you’ll learn how to reach “readers” who spend only two minutes — or even just 10 seconds — with your piece … a simple test to run on your copy to make sure you’re reaching flippers and skimmers … and how to craft the piece of copy that 95% of people read — but that 95% of communicators drop.
Save up to $100 with our group discounts.