Give Our Audiences More Credit

In just the last hour, I’ve read a half dozen blog posts in which the authors opine that copywriters have “a fraction of a second,” “a single moment, “the blink of an eye,” “precious little time,” “no more than a few seconds,” and “only an instant” to catch someone’s attention. I’ve been told that HR people look at resumes for only five seconds, that visitors will leave my website if they are not immediately intrigued, and that people can be turned off by the typeface I use on my blog.

That really puts a lot of a pressure on those of us who make a living communicating. Imagine, having so little time to get people to pay attention. It’s a wonder anything ever gets done.

But is all that really true? Are people so busy they make important decisions that quickly? Will someone turn down an opportunity to get useful advice from an expert because they don’t like the color of his masthead? Will an editor turn down a good story because the headline wasn’t catchy enough?

I don’t think so. At least it’s not that way with me. If it’s something important, I take my time to consider it carefully.

Now, I’m not about to advocate rambling sales letters, off-the-wall color schemes or hard-to-read type.

But I think we can dwell too long on being clever or funny or different and forget that our main goal is to share useful information. Most people do take time to evaluate things of substance that are put in front of them. They are not manic mouse clickers or serial page-turners. Give them more credit than that.

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