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Let’s try something…

How would you feel if I were to write lots of really long sentences all cluttered together without any line breaks, so they also created long paragraphs, like what I’m doing right now? I imagine it would be quite annoying to read if I were to continue writing like this for this entire email. You’d probably want to hit the back button as fast as possible, and you probably wouldn’t want to open any future emails from me either. So I’m going to stop doing it now.

Whew 😅

That’s better!

Glad to be out of that mess!

If you hadn’t noticed…

I tend to write one sentence per paragraph in my newsletter.

And I tend to break up long sentences onto multiple lines…

because it makes reading and skimming WAY easier.

Especially on phones.

You may also notice that some paragraph only have one or two words.

It’s true. ← good example

Why Should You Break Up Your Text?

The goal is to associate your brand with convenience and usability…

Not with annoying walls of text that only your mom will read 😐

Otherwise, people will simply:

• See you as an amateur.

• Close your website tab.

• Scroll past your posts.

• Ignore your emails.

👇 Use these formatting tips to be more concise, readable, and engaging.

Let’s break some rules…

Grammar, Punctuation, and Style for the Modern Communicator (psst… that’s you.)

Most of these tips are for newsletters and tweets…

But they also work for websites, landing pages, digital products, etc.

Use big headings to allow people to skim your content.

Use one sentence per paragraph and vary your sentence lengths.

Learn to be concise:

• Avoid useless phrases
  In my opinion

• Shorten phrases
  In order to —> to
  so that you can —> so you can

• Use stronger verbs to avoid adverbs
  I ran quickly —> I sprinted

Try using ellipses (…) to split up a sentence onto two lines…

like I’m doing with this one.

Em dashes (—) let you add an extra idea or example to a long sentence — like this one.

Use bold, italics, and CAPS to highlight key phrases.

Style your text in a different colour to make it stand out.

And don’t be afraid to start a sentence with “and”.

Emojis in Business? Hell Yeah 🤘

Unless you’re writing for traditional boomers who don’t like anything different from their morning oatmeal and 6 o’clock news…

Emojis are your friend.

Use emojis to help convey the tone of a sentence:

• Wacky? 😜

• Curious? 🤔

• Sarcastic? 🙃

👉 Use a hand to point to your CTAs.

Use an arrow to direct the eyes down ↓

Try using 📌 for something important.

🛠 works well for introducing tools.

🔥 Use fire for pro tips or hot topics.

The more you break up your text and use visual cues…

the easier it is to read.

Of course, formatting text can’t help bad writing…

Your content needs to be crystal clear to be effective.

Read this 1-minute post on writing more clearly:

👉 8 Ways to Clarify Your Brand Message and Get More Clicks

🤖 Robert

P.S. Did you notice one other way I broke up the text in this newsletter? Hit reply and let me know.

• Share this newsletter with a friend or I’ll steal your shift key ⇧

• Follow me on Twitter or I’ll sing Baby Shark for 10 hours 🦈