8 Quick Tips for Keeping Your Readers Engaged
Photo by Anna Keibalo on Unsplash
In today’s fast-paced world, readers are bombarded with more content than ever before. Whether you’re covering a breaking news story or writing a feature, it’s not enough to just write the facts— you need to deliver them in a way that grabs attention and keeps readers attentive.
Great journalism balances clarity, storytelling and structure.
Here are eight proven strategies to make your news articles more engaging, readable and memorable:
1. Craft a compelling headline
- Make your headline concise and straight to the point.
- Provide proper attribution to the source; don’t be vague.
- Use the headline to summarize the article in about 10 words.
2. Use a strong hook (first sentence)
- Sum up the key point quickly.
- Provide the details in a compelling way without being sensational.
- Formulate your argument or summary in a way that readers can understand without having to read all the way to the end.
3. Prioritize the “inverted pyramid” structure
- Place the most important information at the top and allow for additional information or arguments at the bottom.
- Make it easy for readers to understand the story, even if they only skim it.
4. Incorporate quotes, stories and relevant current events
- Humanize the piece and build trust.
- Connect readers emotionally to the news.
- Explain the importance of what you are arguing or stating, especially in how it relates to a reader’s current worldview.
5. Break up text with visuals or data
- Use images, graphs, or statistics to illustrate key points.
- Allow the images to enhance your story—don’t let them overpower it or tell the story for you.
- Provide captions for graphs and statistics to more easily explain the data. Don’t force the reader to interpret raw data.
6. Use bullet points, bolded/italicized text, and subheadings
- Make it scannable for readers with limited time (Hint: Try the F-Pattern for maximum scanability).
- Highlight key takeaways clearly and concisely.
7. Use active voice and attainable language
- Avoid passive language (i.e., “has been stated,” etc.) to ensure the article carries a sense of urgency and relevance.
- Avoid filler words and jargon. Imagine you are explaining a concept to a middle schooler. Don’t dumb it down, but put it in terms that anyone can understand.
- If you must use acronyms, type them out with the letters in parentheses before using the acronym on its own (i.e., Food and Drug Administration (FDA)).
8. End with a takeaway or call to action
- Summarize the significance.
- Encourage readers to stay informed or share the piece.
Communicating a concept to an audience in a way that can be easily digested and shared with others is an essential skill. Sometimes it is tempting to use jargon and skip to the nitty-gritty details instead of elaborating to appear more knowledgeable on the topic. But remember, persuasive storytelling comes primarily from the reader’s ability to understand the narrative.
Using clear and concise language will quickly engage the reader. Readers will share stories they find valuable, and your story’s visibility depends on whether it resonates with them.
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Caroline Gordon
Caroline is a highly outgoing Senior Content Editor for PR Newswire born and raised in Baltimore, MD. Caroline is a Randolph-Macon College graduate with a bachelor's degree in Political Science, Communication Studies and Religious Studies. She loves Solidcore, going to see new movies and traveling the world as much as possible.
