Since 2021, the amount of data consumed every day by the world’s 4.66 billion internet users has skyrocketed from 74 zettabytes to 149 zettabytes.

(What’s a zettabyte? About 1 billion terabytes, which is about 1 billion trillion bytes. Which is about . . . a lot.)

Numbers like that can make you feel like a squeaky little voice rendered silent by a room full of megaphone-wielding shouters. How can you compete with that and be heard?

The right information presented strategically can help you cut through the noise. Try this:

1. Captivate

   Start with a compelling headline and opener that not only sets up a problem but promises a solution. A one-paragraph opener is ideal, but you can use one or two more if they’re tight and fast. Write emphatically with strong action words that create drama or urgency. Use data if you can, to provide objective support of your point. Your goal is to be intriguing and let your reader know you won’t be wasting their time.

2. Agitate

   Elaborate a bit on the problem you’ve set up, showing the effects it can have if left unresolved. Stand in the reader’s place and make them feel you understand what they’re going through, being clear about why the situation matters and the urgency of dealing with it.

3. Educate

   Provide a solution and show how to use it. Be specific but be simple, too. If you use long, complicated explanations, you risk losing them to all those other voices tempting them away. The point is to educate, not to impress with fancy writing.

4. Motivate

   Wrap up by urging the reader to take the action you’re recommending. Don’t leave them hanging; tell them what to do. Always be closing, as the saying goes.

5. Interrogate

   Use this bonus step to create more engagement, if it makes sense for your message. Invite readers to weigh in with their thoughts or, even better, solutions they’ve come up with themselves.

Try framing your next piece with this process. It’s helped my writing to flow more easily, and I find myself thinking more deliberately about what will help readers.

Let us know how it works for you. And I’d love to hear your ideas for being heard above the crowd.

My Favorite Typo

Found recently: “low handing fruit” in place of “low hanging fruit,” as in the stuff that’s easy to fix.

I prefer to use the “assume good intentions” rule and not consider it an intentional misuse, which would be scary.

Other Voices: Smarter Searching

From Marketing Week: A better way to use keywords to attract customers. It’s not about traffic numbers (or shouldn’t be).

“If I need new windows for my house, I’m not reading countless blog articles about windows. If we’re looking for new HR software, I’m not searching for HR tips. And yet I can guarantee there’ll be a HR software company online trying to rank for terms like ‘the importance of teamwork’ or ‘what is a probation period?’ . . . Focus on your market’s problems and find ways to be present for the keywords they use to solve them.”

Want More?

Visit the Write Stuff Wednesday archive.