I’m amazed you’re reading this. I mean, it’s hard work, isn’t it? You’re having to drag your sorry eyeballs along the line, making meaning of all these letters and words. Outrageous!

Actually, you’re probably NOT lazy. But if you assume your readers are lazy, you’ll write in a much more engaging, interesting way. People will be more likely to start reading, read more, and act on what they’ve read.

Apply these tips to light a fire under your lazy readers:

• Short chunks: Long, dense blocks of text scream “hard work” to lazy readers, so chunk them down.
• Do the work for them: What work will they have to do when they read your writing? Do it for them. Readers will love you for including a short summary of the key points, interpreting results for them, partially filling in forms for them, and making the next steps clearer.
• Pique their interest: Half the battle is getting them to start reading. Once they start, they’ll probably continue (if you’ve done a decent job). To pique their interest, consider big, benefit-oriented headlines and subheads; large, interesting pictures, graphs or charts; and bullet points instead of long sentences.

Got a tip you can add? Come on – only a lazy reader wouldn’t share it in a comment below…