Experts communicate clearly

Last time we talked about building credibility as an expert.
Today we’ll talk about communicating clearly.
Experts limit their value if they don’t communicate clearly.
Today I’ll share a secret we give student journalists.
Lisa Giles invited Ed Henninger and me to Richmond.
We spoke to the Virginia High School League conference.
Ed showed them how to communicate through design.
I talked with them about writing and editing clearly.
We discussed Rudolf Flesch’s ‘Fog Index’.
Dr. Flesch believed short sentences were easy to read.
Ann Landers and Winston Churchill wrote short sentences.
So did Nobel Prize novelist Ernest Hemingway.
To find your average sentence length, take 10 sentences.
Count the total number of words. Divide by 10.
When next you write, be aware of your sentence lengths.
Write without commas. Use lots of periods.
Think active voice. Use active verbs.
Turn clauses into separate sentences.
Today’s blog has 195 words in 26 sentences.
The average sentence length is 7.5 words.
If high school journalists can do this, so can you.
Next we’ll talk about another Fog Index clarity test.
For a tip on sharpening your focus, click here.