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3 Ways to Appeal to Readers & Skimmers

By Graham Strong

Editor’s note: This is Graham Strong’s first guest post for Writing White Papers.

The reality is that there are two types of people accessing your white paper: readers and skimmers. In fact as much as we may hate it, most of them are skimmers. But rather than lament over your beautiful words going to waste, why not make it easier for skimmers to pick out the main points in your white paper?

Here are three great ways to reach that goal:

Be Lavish With Your Subheads
I love subheadings. They break up large blocks of text, act as bookmarkers, introduce sections, and underline key messages.

When used properly, subheads also tell the whole story. For example, try reading just this post’s title and subheads. You get the gist of the whole post in just 28 words!

In essence, your white paper becomes a bulleted list with the title acting as the introductory statement, and each subhead acting as a bullet. For best results, keep your subheads short and your message focused.

Bold Key Messages
This works on the same principle as with the subheads, but it gives you a few extra words to get your idea across. Bolded text automatically draws attention, making it more likely that the reader will see your key message. Again, anyone skimming your white paper should be able to pick up the main ideas just by reading the bolded text.

However this technique should be used sparingly. If you bold every word, then it will have less impact on the reader. Worse, it will make your white paper harder to read and your reader might just put your white paper down.

Keep in mind that you are not limited to just bolding effects. Some people use italics, underlining, or even a highlighter effect. Your only guideline here is to get skimmers to notice the text without distracting the readers.

Use Sidebars to Summarize Ideas
If you use a wide left margin in your white papers (a good idea, by the way), you can add short sidebars to pull out information from the main body text, provide a relevant example, or give the same message in a different way. Not only does this helps reinforce your message and make it stand out for skimmers, but by rephrasing your main thoughts you increase your chances that they will resonate with the reader.

However like the bolding technique, this approach should also be used sparingly. Too many sidebars, and suddenly you no longer have a wide left margin!

Meet the Needs of All Readers
Providing your audience with relevant, targeted information is crucial. Part of that means meeting their reading needs. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to understand your key messages and digest the information.

Writing for skimmers is a step in that direction. Using this method will increase the accessibility of your white papers and increase the chances of converting those skimmers into readers. The bottom line is that writing white papers with all readers in mind will lead to better results for your clients.

What other tips might you suggest?

About The Author: Graham Strong is a veteran copywriter, providing his clients with everything from ad copy and brochures to web content and white papers since 1995. Graham recently started his own blog, A Few Strong Words… about the freelance writing life.

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 4th, 2008 at 5:21 am and is filed under Freelance Writing, Writing White Papers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  • Shane, I think we all are closet skimmers. - Mike
  • This is a perfect post! I was just trying to explain this to a friend of mine regarding his site. He needs to accomadate the skimmers as well. I will send him the link to read this post since you say it so much better than I did.
  • I have to admit that sometimes I am a skimmer, especially when I read a very long article...Subheadings and keyword bolded help me a lot to catch the main content. Thanks for writing this as I believe many writers read this blog. So, it will brought up to their attention.
  • Hi Fisk,

    A white paper is somewhat different than a PDF report/brochure. With a white paper, the focus is on an industry-related challenge and solution. It is a very generic approach, with no mention of your company's product or solution until the end of the paper.

    With a PDF brochure, you might start with the product, go over the features and benefits, and overall show how your product provides solutions.

    The difference then is that a white paper is more about thought-leadership within an industry, whereas a PDF brochure is pure marketing.

    But to answer your question, yes you can use the same techniques. As I commented to Jenna, all three of these methods are great for breaking up large sections of text and allowing skimmers to pick out the highlights. You will be more likely to convert the skimmers into readers, which is one step closer to converting them into buyers.

    ~Graham
  • Fisk Gawsen
    By the way, great post.

    I'm trying to piece together some components for an information product I want to create. How much of an impact will writing a white paper make for my product?

    Does it matter what type of info product it is? Taking the course at InfoProdCreation.com has put me on track to creating a product but I want to make as much of an impact as possible when promoting it.

    Writing a white paper seems much more complicated but it seems like it could do wonders for my product. Couldn't I use the same techniques in a basic PDF report or eBook?

    I won't mention the product idea out of respect and I don't know if it would have mattered, but if you can share your opinion I would greatly appreciate it.

    Thanks.

    Fisk Gawsen
  • Hi Mike,

    I am a long time skimmer and read in a way that I pick up on key phrases and bolded words. I love to get to the point of the story which is why I tend to read articles or posts that have bolded group of words. It almost breaks up the article from being visually dry. And of course the bolded keywords are normally the important part of the actual article. I'm glad you use bolded words which make my reading enjoyable. The best blogs are the ones that are organized and easy to read.

    Paul
  • @Mike - Thanks for the welcome, and the opportunity to guest here!

    @Jenna - Glad you like the ideas! I find that they are handy techniques for other writing pieces as well including longer web pages, reports, and even brochures. But they are especially suited to the white paper, I think, because often these days people will skim it first to see if it is worth reading, and then come back if they find value in it. If you can demonstrate that value and even tell the story while they are skimming, you have a better chance of bringing them in.

    ~Graham
  • Hey Jenna;

    First I want to welcome Graham to his first post here!

    I might take issue with Graham's use of the word "all."

    I would state that you don't what to satisfy everyone, only those who you intent to target.

    My 2 cents! :)

    Mike
  • Great ideas! I really liked that you pointed out how important it is to meet the needs of all your readers. A lot of people have difficulty connecting and communicating with their audience - but I think your tips could definitely help with that problem!

    Thanks for sharing & have a good one!
  • Hi Rick,

    I didn't attend that audio conference, so you have me at a disadvantage there! But I just did a search to see if I could find a written reference to that -- and I found one here at Michael's White Paper Source: http://www.whitepapersource.com/writing/white-paper-design-mistake/

    I agree that subheads should be as short as possible. But I'm of the mind that your subheads should be descriptive enough that readers can easily understand the main message.

    For example, I'm not sure what "Type Layout" means out of context of the paper. Is that how to decide on a type of layout? Deciding on a Font? Deciding on how to justify, color, and emphasize the type?

    On the other hand, I believe most readers will know what "Your Font Choice Impacts Your Message" means. Yes, it is longer, but the "extra" time to read this is minimal. Most importantly, the message behind the subhead (note: not necessarily the words themselves) will likely stay with the reader longer.

    That being said, you have to consider your audience. If your paper is written to typographers, then perhaps you can use shorthand like "Type Layout," "Font Choice," and "Arial" (within proper context). This is because the key messages are already a part of the reader. In this case you are using the subheads as touchstones to draw images from their minds rather than plant those images.

    I guess that is the difference: planting images in the mind of your reader generally requires more words, while drawing them out takes less. And as we have all learned from those memory courses, imagining actions (i.e. using verbs) helps reinforce those images and improves memory.

    Bottom line: understanding your audience -- as always when it comes to writing white papers -- is key in your decision as to which method to use.

    ~Graham
  • Rick
    I agree fully with your point that a white paper’s design and content have to work for both readers and skimmers. A question on subheads: How many words?

    In a Feb. 13 WhitepaperSource audio conference, Roger C. Parker advised against “subject, verb, object sentence” subheads, recommending instead keyword subheads of two words (“Type layout” is an example he gave).

    Do you think this approach would be too spare for skimmers? What’s your view on subhead length?
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