Our daughter Elizabeth hurriedly opened the official envelope addressed to her from the State of New York. Out came a new driver’s license. “What are they sending me this for”, she griped, “I just got a new license.” The license went into her purse, the torn open envelope and an official New York State Department of Motor Vehicles 3” X 7” mailer card were left as kitchen counter jetsam.

On my way to the trash can, I read the card enclosed with the license. It was filled with printed messages on both sides, DMV seals, DMV logos, form ID numbers and underscored fines, penalties and threats of up to life imprisonment for scofflaws in the eyes of the DMV.

It was a short walk to the trash can, but a long read standing next to it before I understood why she was mailed a new license.

The state wants all drivers under 25 to have the new (more secure, more difficult to alter) style of license, now. Destroy your old one.

The state may as well as put the message in a bottle and thrown it into the ocean since the chances of it being read are probably greater. A simple message buried in 17 lines of text printed on two sides of a card will seldom be read.

Our society’s focus ability is declining rapidly due to our overburdened mailboxes, email inboxes, voice mails and text messages. The people and organizations demanding our attention daily compress our focus interval to seconds instead of minutes.

Businesses and organizations will be more successful with written communications by keeping these ideas in mind:

1. Use the “inverted pyramid” style of writing. Big points (the base of the pyramid) first; smaller points and details at the end.
2. Bold the important message for the skimmers.
3. Use white space for emphasis.
4. Less words get a higher score than more words.

This week, study the printed messages that cross your desk and then think about your own printed messages. Can you do a better job at getting your message read?

I work with businesses that want to tighten up their message drum. I’d like to talk to your about better communications with customers and employees. Click here for more information.

"Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people." -- William Butler Yeats

"Brevity is the soul of wit." -- William Shakespeare "Brevity is the soul of lingerie." -- Dorothy Parker

"Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own." -- Carol Burnett

Spring means fresh runs of maple syrup for syrup addicts like me. We discovered a new maple syrup producer less than 10 miles from our home. Featuring maple syrup processed from the sap of “flat land” maple trees of Niagara County, NY, this little company produces maple syrup as sweet as any made in romantic hills and mountains elsewhere in the Northeast US or Canada.

It’s so good, I’ve been caught slurping a tablespoon of it directly as a quick “maple syrup fix.” The observer suggested that I have a “serious problem”. I suggested to the observer to find another problem to fix.

Doug

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