The Easiest Text Tweak for the Biggest Impact

Welcome to Tip Tuesday!

This week I’ve got another quick design tip to get you lookin' a little more professional and a little less DIY.

It may sound boring but doing this right can pay dividends on the legibility and impact of what you’re sharing.

You probably already know that I’m a big fan of making your designs beautiful, but I’m an even bigger fan of creating content that your clients will actually read. This week’s tip is one of those often-overlooked but super easy-peasy tips that instantly makes your content more reader-friendly. Because if they don’t read it, well you’ve just wasted a butt-load of time creating it, haven’t you?!

 
The easiest text tweak – fix your line breaks for better legibility by Michelle Clayton of Let Her Fly
 

I’m talkin’ about LINE BREAKS.

I told you it was boring, but stick with me here.

Ever read a headline or post and had to stop halfway through and re-read it because it didn’t make sense? There were no typos or glaring mistakes; it just didn’t flow quite right. That’s usually a result of awkward (aka lazy) line breaks. There are a handful of remedies that are so easy, you won’t believe you didn’t think of these sooner!

But before I show you how, start with these 2 simple steps:

Step 1: Read your headline/quote/whatever out loud, pausing at the end of each line. Does it make sense or sound ridiculous?

Step 2: Adjust the text so that the end-of-the-line pauses make sense.

I told you it was easy!

Want to see this in action? Watch the video for several examples of how to adjust your text to make it easier on your readers and create more impact.

 
 


Here’s just one “before and after” from the video so you can see the difference.

 
Bad line breaks. No bueno.

Say what?!? That’s no bueno.

Perfect line breaks improve legibility and impact.

How’s that for an improvement?

 

So next time before you hit “post” or “share”, take 5 seconds to read it out loud and make any quick adjustments. Your customers will thank you. Ok, they won’t actually thank you because they won’t even notice how effortless you made it for them. And that’s a good thing!

Have more questions? Ask away. Chances are if you’re asking, so is someone else. I’d love to answer them in a future blog post.

branding & identity, tutorialMichelle Clayton