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What readability level makes sense for your audience?

Even rocket scientists and brain surgeons don’t want it to be harder

It never fails.

Readability level
Who’s in your audience? Whether you’re writing to rocket scientists, brain surgeons or top executives, this research will help you figure out what readability level to target. Image by StunningArt

When I talk in my writing workshops about the importance of making copy easy to read and understand, there’s always one person who can’t believe the advice applies to her.

“Are you kidding?” she gasps. “I’m writing to executives/pharmacists/school district superintendents/telecomm engineers/financial planners/horse breeders. These folks are superbly educated, brilliant and divine. There’s no way they’ll read anything that easy.”

So you think your audience wants it to be harder? Think again.

1. Start with average.

The average U.S. adult reading level is 8th grade, research shows.

Is your audience average? Yes: Target 7th- or 8th-grade reading level.

Not so average?

2. Then consider going lower. …

Some people are less literate than others. These demographics and preferences may affect your audience’s literacy levels, according to the world’s a huge global literacy test, the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies:

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Education. Education is the most reliable predictor of literacy, according to OECD. On average, literacy scores increase by 10 points for each year a person remains in school. The lower your readers’ level of education, the easier your copy should be to read.

Age. One-third of Americans age 65 or older fall into the lowest level of prose literacy. According to the PIAAC, reading and numbers skills:

  • Increased from the teenage years through the mid 40s
  • Plunged some 25 points between the 40 to 54 age group and the 55 to 64 age group
  • Dropped 30 more points between the 55 to 64 age group and the oldest adults

In most countries, older people have lower literacy skills. That’s partly because seniors, on average, spent fewer years in school than young people.

Writing for readers 65 and older? Make your copy easier to read.

Get more tips for finding the right readability for your audience. >>>

How can you reach all of your readers?

Read it and weep. More than half of all Americans have basic or below-basic reading skills, according to the DOE’s latest adult literacy test.

How well are you doing reaching these folks with your messages? Rev Up Readability — our clear-writing workshop that begins on June 20

To reach all of your readers — regardless of their reading level — please join me at Rev Up Readability, — our clear-writing workshop that begins on June 20.

You’ll learn to make every piece you write easier to read and understand. You’ll walk away with secrets you can use to reach more readers, measurably improve readability and sell concise writing to management. And you’ll learn to write messages that get more people to read your piece, read more of it, read it faster, understand it better and remember it longer.

Save up to $100 with our group discounts.

Register for Rev Up Readability — our clear-writing workshop that begins on June 20