Put the most important information first
- Shira Nagel
eading online is different from reading from a book. Only 16% of learners read web pages word by word. Instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences.
Reading from a screen is around 25% slower, less comfortable and harder on the eyes than reading from a printed page, and most readers follow a roughly F-shaped pattern when scanning a page.
Strategies to gain learners' attention include "frontloading":
- Important information in the first two paragraphs
- Key information carrying words at the beginning of subheadings, paragraphs and bullet points
- Most important information first using an inverted pyramid strategy
The inverted pyramid style front-loads the main points first, allowing learners to get the gist of the content quickly and if they are interested they will continue reading. Journalists and other writers use the inverted pyramid style to write news stories, blogs and editorial columns.
Writing for learners' different interest levels using the inverted pyramid style means giving:
- answers before explanations
- summaries before details
- conclusions before discussions.
For more information on reading pattern behaviour and inverted pyramid strategy, click on the following links:
