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
How can you reach non-readers with words?
“Readers” don’t read. Even highly educated web visitors read fewer than 20% of the words on a page.
So how do you reach “readers” who won’t read your paragraphs?Learn how to reach people who spend only two minutes — or even just 10 seconds — with your message at Catch Your Readers, our persuasive-writing workshop, starting April 5.
There, you’ll learn how to put your key messages where your readers’ eyes are. You’ll discover how deliver your key ideas to people who don’t read the paragraphs. And you’ll find out how to draw even reluctant audience members into your message.
Save $200 when you book before Dec. 31.
