Is your writing clouded in fog?

Why is it that so many business documents these days are still almost unintelligible - full of meaningless jargon and over-used business-speak?  Don’t people realise that business writing these days is about using plain English?  The reality is that people are now so overwhelmed with information, that you need to get your message across as quickly and simply as possible.  Gone are the days of big words, and long and complex sentence structures.  Simplicity is everything.  We should be writing to express, not to seemingly impress.

You may be surprised therefore that as long ago as the 1950s, methods were being devised to assess the readability of written documents.  One method was created by Robert Gunning, a US businessman and publisher.  He reflected on how his own work was being regarded, and devised a test that determines how many years of education a reader needs to easily understand a document.  He called it the Fog Index.    The test looks at things like average sentence length and the number of complex words (defined as being a word of three or more syllables).   A Fog Index of 6 would be easily readable for sixth-graders.  Text aimed at the public should aim for a grade level of around 8.  Text above a 17 has a graduate level.

The test was popular because it was remarkably easy to calculate, given calculations back then were largely manual.  It could be followed and applied by anyone.   In our current digital age, it’s therefore great to know that Microsoft Word has automated the process, with built-in statistics.   The test in Word is called the Flesch-Kinkaid Index (developed for the US Navy).  There are two statistics; firstly the Flesch Reading Ease (the higher the better, up to 100) and the Flesch-Kinkaid Grade Level (which, like the Fog Index, reflects the number of years education needed).   Google Docs has a similar tool. 

So it you’re wondering how readable your documents are, go to Settings and ensure that both Grammar and Spelling are checked.  Then, once you’ve reviewed the Spelling, the programme will provide the readability statistics.