backFamiliarity breeds content, Part 1

In this two-part series, we will look at the power of familiarity in writing. We’ll talk about familiar topics and words.

Make the topic familiar

If you want your readers to quickly understand what you write, you need to be familiar. That doesn’t mean addressing the boss as ‘mate’. It means:

• understanding where the reader stands in terms of their knowledge of your topic (what is familiar to them)
• being aware of what is very familiar to you – but not necessarily to them.

As a writer, you have to draw these two circles of familiarity together so they overlap. You need to take the reader from what they know already, or what they can readily understand or relate to, to the new information or idea you want to get across.

By understanding what your reader brings to the reading task (their knowledge, language, world view etc) you can pitch your message in a way that they can quickly and easily understand.

How to become more familiar

• Ensure you give the reader context at the start of your email, document or sections within your document. Don’t start them in the middle of a story.
• Show them how what you are telling them relates to what they already know.
• Show clearly how ideas link.
• Unfold your story logically, following this ‘known to new’ pattern.

If we don’t bridge the gap between what’s familiar to us, and what’s familiar to our readers, our communication will fail.

In our next blog, we’ll look at the power of familiar words.