Road tripping through South Australia last year, I was struck by the genius of rumble strips. If you veer too close to the roadโs edge, your tyres rumble and shock you into paying attention.
The clever thing about rumble strips is that they introduce an auditory cue on top of a visual one.
It adds an extra dimension to a standard painted line.
Imagine if you included rumble strips in your writing?
While we might think reading is a purely visual exercise, we forget that for most of us, itโs an auditory function, too.
When reading this, for example, can you hear yourself?
Now imagine your customer or colleague reading something youโve created, like a policy, website or piece of collateral.
What can they hear in your writing?
Is it flat? Monotonous? Unremarkable?
Or does it have some spark? Something that interrupts the pattern and catches their attention?
Some rumble strip thought starters:
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Personalisation: People perk up when they feel seen. Even something as simple as using a name can trigger that response.
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So what?: Distilling the point into what it means for them and why they should care
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Action: What should they do as a result of reading your words?
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