Conservation Outreach Manual Campaign Manual FINAL | Page 3

Message
T
he message is the most important part of any
communication product and each word should be chosen
purposefully.
TIP: How to Use Microsoft Word’s Readability Indicator
• Click FILE
Positivity:
• Click OPTIONS
People respond best to positive messages and studies show
that scare-tactics are not as effective. Instead of telling people
what NOT to do, remind them why they should care about the
environment, and how they will personally benefit from its
protection.
• Click PROOFING
• Make sure the “Show Readability Statistics” box
is checked
• Save, close and re-open your document.
• Check the spelling and grammar. When Microsoft
finishes checking, a pop-up box will show the
readability statistics.
Credibility:
Do thorough research. Environmental messages should always
be backed by sound science.
• Look at the score next to “Flesch-Kincaid Grade
Level”. This is the school grade level (American)
that could comfortably read your text.
Length:
Less is more! People can only process a limited amount
of information at a time. The more you add, the less your
audience will remember. As a scientist, you will be afraid of
oversimplifying, but that is exactly what you need to do! Focus
on people and nature, not projects details.
• For most audiences, a fact sheet should be about
2 pages and a video should under 3 minutes.
• For low-literacy audiences, aim for a sco re of 6.
How does it work? The Readability Score uses
indicators such as the number of syllables per word
and the number of words per sentence to assess the
complexity of your writing.
• If you need to reduce text, use active verbs. When
possible, remove the words ‘is’, ‘was’, ‘are’ and ‘were’
from your document! Eg. Use “the reef blocks wave
energy” instead of “the reef is blocking wave energy.”
Remove adverbs, eg. “conservation is absolutely
necessary.”
Proofing:
Ask someone to check for
errors. If you can, ask someone
from your target audience to
look at your piece and provide
feedback before you distribute.
Conservation Outreach Manual - Page 3
A mural created by Shenique Stewart
in St. Vincent and the Grenadines uses
positive messaging to encourage
Vincentians to protect marine life.
© The Nature Conservancy