Companies often have to meet government requirements to let people know what they’re up to. To do so, they publish public notices online and in newspapers.
But what if those public notices are dense and confusing?
A recent newspaper notice caught my eye because the first paragraph was so long. You know me, I had to take a closer look, running it through the Hemingway app.
The app gave it a “post-graduate” rating, typical of dense academic papers. All three sentences are VERY hard to read, averaging a bloated 40 words each. The American Press Institute says only 10% to 19% of readers will be able to understand this level of writing.
I took a stab at rewriting the notice, and shared the results in the February issue of my newsletter, Wordnerdery. Take a look and see how I did.
Have you seen a “before” piece of writing that needs an “after”? Please share! I’m always looking for good (and you know I mean bad) examples.
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Related reading
Making sense of long sentences
Check readability with the Hemingway App
See more ‘Before & After’ examples