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Copywriting
Tactic

Alternate the Phonetic Flow of Words

You read by speaking internally. If something is hard to say aloud – Red leather, yellow leather – it will be hard to read.

Sling seats replaced with sling chairs

Overview

How can you write with flow? You should AVOID:

  • Words with Similar Beginnings. People are slower to read a sentence like: The sparrow snatched the spider swiftly off the ceiling (McCutchen, Bell, France, & Perfetti, 1991). This patio set includes “sling-style seating” and “space-saving storage” – which are examples to avoid.
  • Words With Similar Endings. You should avoid “sling seating” too because these words repeat the same -ing ending. “Sling chairs” would be better.
  • Similar Adjoiners. You should avoid “chairs sling” because these words share an “s” between them.
  • Groups of Many Small Words. Avoid a headline like: “Free you up to do the things you love.” It has a long string of small words.

  • McCutchen, D., Bell, L. C., France, I. M., & Perfetti, C. A. (1991). Phoneme-specific interference in reading: The tongue-twister effect revisited. Reading Research Quarterly, 87-103.