Why less is actually more

Have you ever sat through a class or a talk about something you knew little about? How much of it can you remember? The chances are you only took in a tiny fraction of what was said. Cognitive Load Theory has an explanation – one that you should pay attention to in your next writing project.

We have two types of memory: working memory (information held in your mind while you’re thinking) and long-term memory (which is like a bank of all the things we’ve experienced). Cognitive Load Theory says that we can store unlimited amounts of information in long-term memory, but our working memory can only hold a small amount of information at once.

This theory has two implications for your writing. 1: don’t overwhelm people with too much information at once. 2: activate people’s existing knowledge before you present new ideas.

1. Don’t overwhelm people

One of the biggest challenges we come up against as an agency is a brief where the client wants everything included at once.

Let’s say you’re writing an email nurture journey for cold contacts. You might be tempted to tell people all about your business, its history, its prestigious clients, the products and services you offer, and the name of your office dog. But it’s too much new information for anyone to take it.

Successfully getting one important point across is far more valuable than failing to get across lots of points.

2. Activate existing knowledge

If the content you’re writing has lots of information or different ideas that readers need to know, don’t just jump straight in. That information will have more impact if people’s brains add it to existing knowledge rather than have to make new memories.

For example, if your email nurture journey for cold contacts is about a product or service better than anything existing in the market, start by talking about the current state of things. Get people thinking about one of your competitors they might have heard of, or a similar product that they might have used. Then build on their experience by explaining how yours is better.