Have you ever wanted to write a Dr Seuss-inspired corporate message? Does that sound bonkers? Except, once upon a time, the Bank of England turned to Dr Seuss for advice on writing.
The story began when the bank discovered only one in five readers understood its publications.
To remedy the situation, books like ‘The Cat in the Hat’ and ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’ were used to demonstrate how simple language and short words could successfully convey a message.
Image credit: Julie Clopper / Shutterstock.com
“We looked at our own publications and found we assumed a reading level that was very close to university level,” Dame Nemat Shafik told The Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes. “If we genuinely want to communicate we need to make sure it’s in language that is available to others.”
You might ask, if the next generation of bankers is inspired by Dr Seuss, are we ‘dumbing down’ our writing skills. Not at all, according to Shafik who described the legendary storyteller as “a master at using simple language”.
Instead, she suggested “people who know their stuff can explain things in simple and accessible language”.
Are you tempted to write your own Dr Seuss-like message, I certainly was. So here it is.
A Dr Seuss-inspired note FROM YOUR INTERNET PROVIDER:
Image credit:
Julie Clopper / Shutterstock.com
Today’s not your day
We’re sorry to say
The internet’s down,
It’s gone far away.
Your website has vanished,
Your emails are outa town
The cloud has been banished
The tech help is wearing a frown
No streaming on Netflix
Nor flicking through Facebook
Nor posting your latest look
on Pinterest or Instagram
Image credit: catwalker / Shutterstock.com
Best cancel the webinar
The zoom session too
Let’s ditch online learning
And go to the zoo.
No need to pay the bills
At least, not on time
With internet banking failing
And absolving the crime
The delay could be ages
We’re sorry to say
We googled the problem
And still can’t find our way.
Come on, have a go, how about writing a Dr-Seuss inspired note?
