Isn't it true that we have become a nation of skimmers?  USA Today and the point and click ease of the Internet have changed the way we read business information.  Today very few people have the time or the inclination to sit down and read a report or a feature article or a long memo from start to finish.  This is particularly true with detailed proposals.  We want to jump around and find the information we want without being forced to dig for it.  If you want to improve your chances of getting your selling messages across, try some of these techniques to accommodate the reader while conveying what you need to say:

1.Use Headlines That Sell.  Why just say ``Tax Services" when for very little more effort you can say ``Tax Services Seven Days a Week"?  Why say ``Our Team" when you can say ``An Experienced Service Team"?  If  readers skim only the headlines, they will close the proposal having received some of your important strategic messages.

2.Use Images With Purpose.  Most people know now that pictures will be looked at when a person won't stop to read the words.  Graphs, photographs of client facilities or people, photographs of your service team or offices--all can be used to convey something about your services and how you deliver them.   Be careful when using clip art software packages, though.  Unless used skillfully they can convey an amateurish image of your firm.

3.Use Captions--They Are Read.   We all learned that from National Geographic, didn't we?  The picture will draw the eye right to the caption, which will convey the message.  Don't waste words describing what the picture is, though, unless it's something highly complex or unrecognizable.  Use the caption to sell.   If you show a picture of a field of grain, talk about how grain is the primary source of revenue for the prospect or how nurturing the land is like growing a business and requires constant stewardship.  Captions should convey your most important messages and create an image of your firm.

4.Use Call-Outs for Emphasis.  Big type fonts catch the eye.   Surround it with white space and it will catch even the most casual browser's attention.  Find a key phrase or sentence on the page that makes an important statement, and then blow it up big and put a box around it or wrap the body text around it.  Readers may not read the whole page, but they will read the call-out as they thumb through the document.  Call-outs are a good way to feature quotes and testimonials from your satisfied clients.

5.Use Color to Improve Retention.  Too much color is not a good thing, but readability studies have shown conclusively that adding color increases understanding and retention of the printed material dramatically.  Be sparing with color, to avoid looking garish or circus-y, but use it if you can.  One way might be to preprint your proposal paper with a colored rule at the bottom and top or a tiny firm logo in a corner.  You can then run those sheets through a laser printer and have an attractive page.  If you have a color laser or ink jet printer, hire a designer to help you set up a format for when and how to use color in a way that preserves your professional image.

6.Avoid All Capital Letters.  Upper and lower case capitalization makes it easy for the eye to identify letters as words and convey them quickly to the brain.  Text, even just a headline, written in all capital letters is harder to read and fatiguing to the eye.   Choose a type font that is comfortable to read, make it large enough for tired or older eyes (12-point is about right for most fonts), and then use Bold, Italic, or Underscore to add emphasis instead of using all capital letters.

Copyright 1998 by Kaye Vivian (kvivian@cloud9.net).  All rights reserved. 
This article may be reprinted without change to the contents and providing copyright notice
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