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How to Keep Your Readers’ Attention

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Lynn Gaertner-Johnston Updated on
Someone who was starting a new business asked me to review a marketing piece he had written. It was approximately 350 words long, yet not one of those words was you. Although it kept the writer’s attention–after all, it was all about him–his readers would have stopped reading after the first few lines.
 
Here are five easy ways to engage your reader:  
 
1. Use less I, more you. Your readers care about themselves, and you is the word that most immediately engages them. Compare these examples:
  • I will show you how to get more done in less time.
  • You will learn how to get more done in less time.

___________________

  • I would appreciate the opportunity to present this information in a web demo that will take 30 minutes.
  • In just 30 minutes, you will find out how to save yourself hours of . . . . 

The pronoun I makes your reader an observer. The word you brings readers into your message. 

 

2. Use you from the start. Speakers often begin their speeches with a question, and that question typically contains the word you. Don’t save your you pronouns for the middle or end of your message. Use you in the first couple of sentences. Notice that the name of this piece is “How to Keep Your Readers’ Attention.” If it were “Things That Keep a Readers’ Attention,” you might not have recognized that the information had value for you.
3. Write to one of your readers. Your readers do not think of themselves as a group. Each one of them reads as an individual. If you refer to them as a group, you minimize their role in the message. Compare:
  • Each one of you has an opportunity to step forward.  
  • You have an opportunity to step forward.

___________________

  • Those of you who love crafting will want to bookmark this site.
  • If you love crafting, bookmark this site.  
In each of those pairs, the second sentence singles out and speaks to the reader. 
 

4. Get beyond the “what.” Focus on “so what.” It is easy to write about what interests you, but that information must be tied to your readers’ interests. If you don’t connect the information to your readers, they will ask “So what?” or simply stop reading. Compare these approaches:

  • The new web calendar provides one information source for all staff on company events. [tells what]
  •  With the new web calendar, you can quickly find the company event information you need. [tells so what]

_____________

  • There is plenty of room in the trunk [boot] of this model. [tells what]
  • The trunk has plenty of room for your gear or luggage when you feel the urge to travel. [tells so what]


5. Answer your readers’ questions. Before you write, think about what your readers would ask if you were sitting face to face. Then when you write, answer those questions. If something you write is not an answer to your readers’ questions, they won’t care about it. 

For example, if your readers would not ask, “What is the background?” don’t write a background section. But if the background is about them, recognize that they would ask “What do you know about my situation?”

It’s all about you, the reader. Just remember that fact as a writer, and you will keep your readers’ attention.  

Lynn

Posted by Lynn Gaertner Johnson
By Lynn Gaertner-Johnston

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston has helped thousands of employees and managers improve their business writing skills and confidence through her company, Syntax Training. In her corporate training career of more than 20 years, she has worked with executives, engineers, scientists, sales staff, and many other professionals, helping them get their messages across with clarity and tact.

A gifted teacher, Lynn has led writing classes at more than 100 companies and organizations such as MasterCard, Microsoft, Boeing, Nintendo, REI, AARP, Ledcor, and Kaiser Permanente. Near her home in Seattle, Washington, she has taught managerial communications in the MBA programs of the University of Washington and UW Bothell. She has created a communications course, Business Writing That Builds Relationships, and provides the curriculum at no cost to college instructors.

A recognized expert in business writing etiquette, Lynn has been quoted in "The Wall Street Journal," "The Atlantic," "Vanity Fair," and other media.

Lynn sharpened her business writing skills at the University of Notre Dame, where she earned a master's degree in communication, and at Bradley University, with a bachelor's degree in English. She grew up in suburban Chicago, Illinois.

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