{"id":5183,"date":"2012-11-21T09:34:19","date_gmt":"2012-11-20T22:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordconstructions.com.au\/blog\/?p=5183"},"modified":"2017-05-23T20:49:07","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T10:49:07","slug":"avoiding-fluff-message-clear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wordconstructions.com.au\/blog\/2012\/11\/avoiding-fluff-message-clear\/","title":{"rendered":"Avoiding fluff keeps the message clear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whatever message you are trying to convey, the clearer you can\u00a0make it<\/a> the easier it will be to\u00a0understand and remember.<\/p>\n

Generally, a shorter, simpler sentence<\/a> will explain a message better than a long, complex sentence. Or paragraph.<\/p>\n

Giving\u00a0unnecessary options<\/h2>\n

I recently\u00a0came across this sentence on a website form: \u00a0‘credit card details only needed if posting this form’.\"Filling<\/a><\/p>\n

It seems simple\u00a0enough – we don’t need your credit card details\u00a0if you send us the form electronically\u00a0or by courier\u00a0pigeon. So if you’re not posting the form, save yourself the trouble\u00a0of filling in half our form is the subtext.<\/p>\n

One slight problem though – there was absolutely\u00a0no way to submit their form except by posting it. The form was just a pdf to\u00a0print off – there was no online submission nor was there an email address or fax number to be seen on the site.<\/p>\n

So what they’re really saying is ‘fill in the credit card details’.<\/p>\n

Check if it is needed<\/h2>\n

I think it’s pretty simple – if the information is meaningless (like credit card details for unavailable options) or useless, delete it.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it’s a matter of reading through your words point by point and testing them out.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it works better to list what is necessary then go to the text and assess\u00a0everything\u00a0not on the list\u00a0– it may add value<\/a> so you keep it but otherwise, delete it.<\/p>\n

This is just as important when you change something as when you first write it.<\/p>\n

In our example above, they may have had email details on the site but removed it to reduce spam and forgot to update\u00a0the form reference.<\/p>\n

When’s the last time you filled in a form on your site\u00a0or followed your sales process to check it all makes sense and works? Did you read every word to be sure nothing pointless is in there?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whatever message you are trying to convey, the clearer you can\u00a0make it the easier it will be to\u00a0understand and remember. Generally, a shorter, simpler sentence will explain a message better than a long, complex sentence. Or paragraph. Giving\u00a0unnecessary options I recently\u00a0came across this sentence on a website form: \u00a0‘credit card details only needed if posting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1425,60],"tags":[184,1588,1172,1589,972],"class_list":["post-5183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-communications","category-writing","tag-clear","tag-fluff","tag-form","tag-meaningless","tag-simple"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t