The Law of Three

Colin Edwards and the Law of Three

Although is around ten years since I was last involved with magazine editing – or any other proper job for that matter – I still take an interest in the whole editing and publishing scene. This is how I learned about Trinity Mirror Digital research about readers’ attitudes.

Your awareness of their key findings could have a profound impact on improving the effectiveness of your print and on-line publicity material, whether you are a life coach, some other professional in independent practice or otherwise involved in business development. So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I offer you ‘The Magic of 300’!

People will only read an on-line item if it is around 300 words long. On most screens this allows them to see the beginning, middle and end of the piece in a single glance and then they can judge how long it will take to read it. There are exceptions, for instance, when readers have a keen interest in the subject matter. There is no need to do a word count if you keep in mind that a screen-full is about 300.

It takes around two minutes to

speak 300 words, which is about the optimum span of listeners’ attention. When you are involved in public speaking, keep to the time allotted for your presentation –ideally never more than 30 minutes and break your key points into segments of 300 words.

Then there is your ‘law of three’ which suggests that all written or broadcast creative work should have a beginning, middle, and an end. This is truly essential when your aim is attracting and retaining clients.

Hopefully, unless this column is edited to breaking point, it will be 300 words long with a start, a middle and end. It should be three paragraphs too, but I don’t think in long ones!

Written by Colin Edwards for the Special Achievement Newsletter you can register for your copies of the newsletter here http://www.achievementspecialists.co.uk/freebie/newsletter.

Colin says, ‘I welcome any friend of Curly’s to stop by my unpredictable blog at http://margate35mm.blogspot.co.uk’