Interview with Todd Rogers, co-author of Writing for Busy Readers: Communicate More Effectively in the Real World
Todd Rogers, co-author of Writing for Busy Readers: Communicate More Effectively in the Real World recommends a super set of books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Todd's book:
Description from Bookshop.org: (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
Writing for Busy Readers: Communicate More Effectively in the Real World
When The Elements of Style and On Writing Well were published in 1959 and 1976, the internet hadn’t been invented. Since then, there has been a radical transformation in how we communicate. The average adult receives over 100 emails and tens of text messages each day. With all this correspondence, gaining a busy reader’s attention is now a competition.
Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink, both behavioural scientists, offer practical writing advice you can use today. They begin by outlining cognitive facts about how busy people read, then detail six research-backed principles for effective writing:
Use fewer words
Lower the reading level
Use formatting judiciously
Make the purpose clear for skimmers
Emphasise value for readers
Make responding as easy as possible.
Including many examples, a checklist, and other tools for the most effective writing, this handbook will make you a more effective communicator. Rogers and Lasky-Fink bring conventional ideas about text-based communication into the 21st century’s radically transformed attention marketplace.
Buy On:
Bookshop.org UK £16.14
Bookshop.org US $26.04
Blackwells £16.99
Waterstones £16.99
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
Where Good Ideas Come From: The Seven Patterns of Innovation by Stephen Johnson. Description from Bookshop.org: (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
I love that idea of the “adjacent possible” and trying to maximize our exposure to as many neighboring ideas as we can
Where Good Ideas Come From: The Seven Patterns of Innovation
A slow hunch can be much more valuable than a Eureka moment
The connected 'hive mind' is smarter than the lone thinker
Where you think matters just as much as what you're thinking
The best ideas come from building on the ideas and inventions of others
From the Renaissance to satellites, medical breakthroughs to social media, Charles Darwin to Marconi, Steven Johnson shows how, by recognising where and how patterns of creativity occur, we can all discover the secrets of inspiration.
Buy On:
Easons €15.39
Bookshop.org UK £10.44
Bookshop.org US $26.04
Blackwells £11.99
Waterstones £10.99
Wordery $13.91
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias by Dolly Chugh. Description from Bookshop.org: (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
I rate it 5/5. It’s a thoughtful and useful approach to the psychology of trying to be better.
The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias
I rate it 5/5. It’s a thoughtful and useful approach to the psychology of trying to be better.
Buy On:
Easons €28.00
Bookshop.org UK £19.00
Bookshop.org US $26.03
Blackwells £15.00
Waterstones £20.00
Wordery $25.32
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
It's Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr. Description from Bookshop.org: (All links earn commission from purchases. Prices accurate at time of writing)
It's Okay to Be Different
Told with Todd Parr's signature wit and wisdom, It's Okay to Be Different cleverly delivers the important messages of acceptance, understanding, and confidence in an accessible, child-friendly format. The book features the bold, bright colors and silly scenes that made Todd a premiere voice for emotional discussions in children's literature. Targeted to young children first beginning to read, this book will inspire kids to celebrate their individuality through acceptance of others and self-confidence--and it's never to early to develop a healthy self-esteem.
It's Okay to be Different is designed to encourage early literacy, enhance emotional development, celebrate multiculturalism and diversity, and promote character growth.
Buy On:
Easons €5.49
Bookshop.org UK £6.64
Bookshop.org US $8.36
Blackwells £6.99
Waterstones £6.99
Wordery $8.85
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
Audiobook
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
Harvard Coop
The Harvard Coop in Cambridge
Many thanks to Todd for recommending a super set of books! Please don't forget to check out Writing for Busy Readers: Communicate More Effectively in the Real World.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: Scribe Publications (Writing for Busy Readers: Communicate More Effectively in the Real World), Penguin Books Ltd (Where Good Ideas Come From: The Seven Patterns of Innovation), HarperCollins Publishers Inc (The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias), Little, Brown & Company (It's Okay to Be Different).
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