WRITING BEST PRACTICES

Although using Best Practices in the written word may not exactly fall under any ethics category, there are benefits to be had. If your organization tries to continually improve its communication to customers and among producers, implementing better ways to write can further your efforts. Internal communications can also be improved with these same better practices.

Whether these guidelines are implemented by only those who write marketing or training materials, or are established as company standards, your company can benefit.

Clear writing

When a person understands information, the more likely they are to trust the source.

Don’t use jargon (Universal Life, Dec sheet) or acronyms in general use, unique to your product lines or distributions, or unique to your company (WIPS, LTC); nor technical or professional terms (field underwriter) without explanation. The longer you are in the insurance business, the more likely you are to use this type of language without realizing others don’t necessarily understand.

If jargon-type terms are necessarily, explain them first. If used on websites, link to definitions and make it easy to link back.

Try to stick to one idea per sentence. If someone reads a sentence and has to consciously think about what it is you meant to say, it slows them down and potentially destroys the rhythm you’re setting. Reading text out loud will help you determine correct punctuation and readability. No, you don’t expect anyone else to read it out loud, but if it doesn’t “flow” from your lips, it cannot flow through their minds.

Particularly for your customer audience, the “grandmother test” is helpful to ensure clarity. Ask one or more people who are seniors or have little knowledge of the insurance industry to read the text silently, and then to tell you what they understood it to say.

We have always encouraged writers to use the built-in “readability tests” available in word processing, at least on a spot-check basis. Granted, required disclosures and regulated information will often be high on the “unreadable” scale. However, you can check sales text and training text for readability scores. Since these automated programs take into account both word complexity and sentence length, you can manipulate your text to improve your score quite easily. The insurance industry generally requires readability to be at an eighth grade level. Generally speaking, your writing should be at that level, as well.

Concise writing

The fewer words it takes to get an idea across, the better. Sentences should average no more than 15-20 words each.

Each paragraph should express only one idea, and one topic should probably be expressed in 750 words or less. (See style notes below.)

Longer words don’t usually impress people, especially if they don’t understand them. There is a balance between the desire to use short words and to build short sentences. If it takes three words to substitute for one long word but it makes the sentence unwieldy, you may have to make reasonable choices.

Helpful writing

Before you start writing, have a focus on what it is, exactly, you want to communicate. Brainstorm the points you want to make, and then prioritize them to make the piece logical.

Write in a lively style, including any technical information that must be there, and then make sure you have woven the facts into the telling. With an advertising piece, run it by the policy gurus to make sure your information is accurate.

Make sure you tell the target audience member what he or she wants and needs to hear. This is akin to selling a consumer the insurance product that answers their need, instead of selling them what you sell best. Your target should have questions to start with, and very few at the end – except, “Where can I sign up?”

Human voice

Use plain English. Keep it simple. Use customers to tell the story if you can, because they will use plain English.

Make your sales texts, especially, conversational and sincere. Imagine you are speaking out loud to the target audience, and draft something that is just as you would explain it personally. This comes short of being “folksy”, but allows your human voice to speak directly to the human at the other end.

Make it personal. Let the reader know why or how this information applies to their situation. If you are telling a producer about a recent law change, for instance, make sure to include references to how the change will impact their procedures, communications or compliance.

Style notes

  1. Break your information with bold sub-headers and bullets. This helps organize the information and helps people assimilate it more quickly. These “points” will probably closely tie in with the original ideas you brainstormed.
  2. Use creative headers and headlines, as long as they relate to the story below them. Don’t tease.
  3. Using active verbs whenever possible makes your writing more interesting to read. (“He caught the ball.” instead of “The ball was caught by him.”)
  4. Use the most active verb tense. (“We will” instead of “We are going to”.)
  5. Use questions as headers or as lead sentences of paragraphs. If the reader identifies with that question, they are more likely to read that section carefully.
  6. Use one writer at a time per subject. Unfortunately, business articles are sometimes collaborative efforts put together by employees who were not hired for their writing skills, but for their knowledge and expertise in the insurance field. If this type of writing is done at your company, assign a professional writer on staff the job of reviewing those pieces and massaging them to present “one voice” instead of many.

This article does not present an exhaustive list of all you can do to make writing better, but perhaps it will start the thought process.