Five Reasons For Reading This Article

That got your attention, didn't it?  Quite a teaser title, grabbing your attention and compelling you to at least read the opening paragraph.  And that of course is the reason that blog authors use and over-use this tactic.  It's a hook that dangles a quick fix answer in front of your nose.  You can lose weight, increase sales, get a new job, manage your boss and cure cancer - all by condensing the apparent solution down to a few simple steps.

Who can resist the lure?

In our own field of Compensation this basic checkmark tactic is in full bloom, with repeated examples diluting the complexity of every problem and offering simplistic solutions that in all truthfulness should be obvious answers to most.  How often are those quick steps actually little more than common sense, and have you the reader muttering, "Of course"?  And there perhaps lies the rub.  What you gain from these "steps" is often less gems of wisdom than a condensed rehash of what you already know, only now formatted with a seductive lure.

By comparison, most workplace problems have more moving parts, more complexities and more risks associated with wrong moves than would be suggested by a short "just follow these steps" inducement.  I don't have an EASY button where I work.  Do you?

But real-answer articles are more complex to write, require more words to explain themselves and may suffer lack of attention from a "don't have the time" audience.

Then again, perhaps a bit of silver lining can be for those using the list of steps as checkmarks for their own activities, sort of as a reminder to buy the milk, take out the garbage, feed the cat, etc.  Not rocket science, but a convenient to-do list reminder.  Whenever you're undertaking a major project, having a project plan that includes a list of necessary activities could be a useful tactic to keep things on track and on time.

You can't take the chance

We're helpless to resist the step-by-step hook though, perhaps out of fear that we might be missing the solution to the Gordian Knot, the Rosetta Stone or perhaps finding the location of Atlantis.  That promised quick fix answer to our most frustrating challenge, the one that has seemed just out of reach for so long - might be right here in front of us, miraculously, and all dumbed down to make it seem so simple.  All we have to do is read this article, blog post or link to another website.  It's like taking a diet pill, isn't it?

Oh, and the five reasons I teased you with at the start?  Let's see:

• Bullet points are easier to remember than paragraphs

• You'll be able to recite the points later, perhaps at a meeting where you'll look good

• Remembering the 1-2-3 steps will gain you instant credibility outside your functional circle

• There's less risk of challenge to bullet points than to explanatory text

• The author can prepare an article or posting faster this way

And in case you haven't guessed it by the above, yes, the number of steps, reasons, causes, etc. is usually a made-up affair.  Many authors first decide on the number, then back into the explanations.

It's all about getting you to read their stuff.

But that would be a 6th reason.

Chuck Csizmar CCP is founder and Principal of CMC Compensation Group, providing global compensation consulting services to a wide variety of industries and non-profit organizations.  He is also associated with several HR Consulting firms as a contributing consultant.  Chuck is a broad based subject matter expert with a specialty in international and expatriate compensation.  He lives in Central Florida (near The Mouse) and enjoys growing fruit and managing (?) a brood of cats.

Creative Commons image courtesy of sideshowbarker

Comments

[Jacque Vilet]

I like this. A lot of articles are like this. I think the way to change that is to keep the "teaser" title and then make sure your "5 points" are actually meaningful.

Use the format that catches people's attention but gives them some meat. What's the saying: "You have to start where people are and build from that".

Some people will drop out --- but you may have enticed people to read what you have to say. No guarantee they will keep reading --- but then you can't "make" anyone do something.

I agree though Chuck ---- we need to have meat -- even if we have to cut it down in smaller bite-sized pieces.

[E. James (Jim) Brennan]

Marketing folks love numbered lists because they are teasers that imply concise compact panaceas with a finite limit. Who can start a piece promising 6 solutions without proceeding beyond #5 and sticking with it to the end? But not many will tackle a treatise promising 1,384 ways to skin a cat! Tires your brain just to see the number.

[John A Bushfield]

Chuck - There are so many of these 'teaser titles', everywhere you look, that I simply don't read 'em. Any post that leads with a number gets a pass from me because the - pick a number - steps/things/actions offered to solve the problem du-jour end up being mostly somebody's opinion, with little substance to support it. The article at hand is an exception, obviously, only because the blog that produces it (Compensation Cafe') is one I respect and read regularly.

Offering easy fixes to complex issues moves the needle of my 'BS' meter into the red zone. Others may see it differently, but for this blogaholic the attention it gets is to ignore and move on.

[Jacque Vilet]

Hi John --- don't automatically skip articles that start with "teaser titles". Like I said above sometimes we have to get people's attention before we make a point.

I don't necessarily like the "five ways to . . ." titles either --- but have used them with some (hopefully) meat in the content. I have gotten some good comments on them too.