When you write more, people understand less.

There's a rule in orthodox English. No sentence is to be longer than 25 words, even when it is grammatically and mechanically correct. 

In 2003, Oxford University conducted a study on reading comprehension. English was the first language of all it's test subjects. Researchers discovered that the average college educated adult comprehends more at a fourth-grade reading level than they do at a high school level. When long words of eight to nine letters were used, the subjects were apt to skip the shorter words that followed. 

The reasons for this are both behavioral and physiological. 

People do not read one word at a time. They bounce around, especially online. The brain anticipates the shorter words and fills them in. (constructed images vs eidetic images -or-what's really there versus what the brain makes up for you.) 

What does all this mean for you and I in radio? 

The 25 word sentence rule applies in writing for reading. But for radio, it's 10 words. 

Think of your brain as no different from your computer. You have storage memory. Then, there's RAM memory for processing your functions -or your mental apps. When we read, our eyes are one to two words ahead of what the brain is processing. After 10 words, it's as if our RAM memory is full. It has to purge -including what it just processed. It's easy to hear. Give even the most experienced voice-over artist a script. That first cold read is the tell tale. When the sentence is more than 10 words, they stumble. 

If it's hard to comprehend for the human eye, it's even more difficult for the ear. 

In the literary world, this writing behavior is called minimalism. When a writer first begins applying it, it's very awkward. The first draft reads very stop and go. If it were a car that rides very jerky.. 

Bill had a cat. The cat didn't like him. He hated that the cat didn't like him. He fed the cat. He tried to pet the cat. But the cat didn't like Bill. 

Within time, the aspiring minimalist, learns they can make their short sentences flow. 

Bill's cat didn't like him. It really hurt his feelings. He did everything; the feeding, the shows of affection. Yet the cat still didn't like him. 

Everything we do on air is dependent on memory. That's why programming keeps it's positioning and brand statements short. Short statements are sticky. Long ones are not.  

Here's my example. 

In 2003, WZZK had this for a positioning statement.

104-7 WZZK, the most country music guaranteed with fifty-minute music hours every hour. And a 104 minute commercial free music sweep to start your workday at 9. 

That statement was used on all it's sweepers, id's, and every time a talent cracked open the mic. 

Across town, country competitor WDXB just did this.

Better Country, 102-5 The Bull. 

By all the golden statutes of branding, WZZK's positioning statement showed usage that implied listener benefit. It offered what listeners want; more music, less commercials. (a mechanically and grammatically correct statement.)

Yet, who won the ratings race the next two books? 

In diary markets, it's all about recall. 

If this works in programming, our client's brands are no different. 

There's a reason William Faulkner never made it to radio. Thank goodness. 

If you need any help with writing or you just need ideas, I'm always here for you.

Mike -The Reel Architect.