A client of mine creates educational materials for teachers, parents, counselors, and physicians. Her top priority is to create information that consumers of her products fully understand. But she also knows that her materials must be attractive enough to spark sufficient interest—or her message will get lost.
A recent article in Education News http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/to-get-kids-to-eat-healthier-in-school-presentation-matters/ discusses the importance of presentation when getting kids to eat healthy food. The article cited a study from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health that found that “getting kids to eat healthier boils down to taste and presentation.”
This reminds me of one of my kindergarten classes when I was teaching. My students loved hot lunch day. This meant pizza, hot dogs, or burgers delivered from a restaurant. One morning, there was a problem with the lunch service, and the school was notified that there would be no lunch delivered. Our Parent-Teacher Group president came to the rescue. She prepared a huge pot of turkey-vegetable-noodle soup. I was pleased that my students were receiving a healthy lunch. Who wouldn’t want hot soup on a cold, winter day? The dismal looks on their faces when they learned they wouldn’t be getting their familiar fast-food meal were unforgettable. Silence fell through the room as my students looked down at their bowls. I excitedly told them the soup was full of yummy vegetables. And I reminded them how much they all loved the turkey that we had had a few months earlier at our class Thanksgiving feast.
They weren’t sold. I think one reason was because they were unable to identify each vegetable in the soup. Sadly, lunchtime ended with twenty-two hungry students.
A few days later, I taught a nutrition lesson during which I gave each student a large, raw potato and a variety of other vegetables. After learning about the nutritious content of the vegetables, their task was to use the vegetables and toothpicks to create their own Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head. They took their creations home. Parents reported that they cooked the potato, and their children happily gobbled up the vegetables. Was this because they had fun using the vegetables to create something? Was it because they could identify the vegetables?
On that turkey-vegetable-noodle soup day, my students were unable to identify what they were eating; therefore, they hesitated to try it. Also, they were expecting a lunch that they considered to look more enticing, further contributing to their disappointment.
Because the soup was difficult to identify, it was challenging to consume. Even when it comes to adults, attractive and identifiable food will likely be consumed before an unidentifiable or less attractive option.
Readers won’t filter through a soup of incoherency to find meaning. They’ll wait for something that they can delve into.
When you’re writing, think about how you’re presenting information. Is it organized? Do sentences and ideas flow? Is your language going to attract and engage your audience?
Your readers are more likely to consume information that’s presented in a readable and appealing way. And they’ll want more. In the world of writing, this boils down to clarity and concision.
