The Biggest Tip to Get People to Actually Read Your Emails

Did you know that in email, paragraphs longer than two lines lead to 30 percent of readers merely scanning the text instead of reading it?

And once a paragraph reaches four lines, 70 percent of readers won't even attempt it. They skip straight past it, looking for the important stuff. You do it too, right?

Here's a research-backed tip for writing readable emails and documents: keep paragraphs to two lines or fewer.

The Research

This insight comes from research by psychologists Flesch and Kincaid, first tasked by the US Navy in the 1940s with creating easy-to-read manuals for sailors. Their work later influenced US educational standards, leading to the well-known Flesch-Kincaid Reading Grade Level tests. For professional and web-based writing, research shows readers start skimming once text exceeds a sixth-grade reading level.

“Once a paragraph hits four lines, 70% of readers won't even attempt to read it.”

How to Apply It

Writing for a sixth-grade reading level doesn't mean dumbing down your ideas. It means structuring complex thoughts so readers can scan and absorb them. Short sentences and concise paragraphs improve readability more than any other variable affects how difficult your writing feels to read.

That's why we recommend aiming for paragraphs no longer than two lines. Short paragraphs increase the odds that people actually read what you write, instead of skimming past it.