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How to Write, Speak and Think More Effectively
Instructs readers in the art of expressing themselves clearly and concisely in written and oral communication
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1963
10 people are currently reading
335 people want to read
About the author
Rudolf Flesch
31 books29 followersFrom Wikipedia,
Rudolf Flesch (8 May 1911 – 5 October 1986) was an author, readability expert, and writing consultant who was an early and vigorous proponent of plain English in the United States. He created the Flesch Reading Ease test and was co-creator of the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test. He was raised in Austria and finished university there, studying law. He then moved to the United States and entered a graduate program at Columbia University, where he earned a Ph.D in English.
Flesch was born in Vienna, Austria. He fled to the United States to avoid the imminent invasion of the Nazis, to avoid Jewish prosecution. Once in America, he met Elizabeth Terpenning, whom he married. They had six children: Anne, Hugo, Jillian, Katrina, Abigal, and Janet. Flesch lived the majority of his life with his wife and children in Dobbs Ferry, New York, a small village in southern Westchester county.
[edit] Professional Information
Not long after finishing his degree, he wrote what became his most famous book, Why Johnny Can't Read, in 1955. The book was a focused critique of the then-trendy movement to teach reading by sight, often called the "look-say" method. The flaw of this approach, according to Flesch, was that it required learners to memorize words by sight. When confronted with an unknown word, the learner was stumped. Flesch advocated a return to phonics, the teaching of reading by teaching learners to sound out words.
Flesch flourished as a writing teacher, plain-English consultant, and author. He wrote many books on the subject of clear, effective communication: How to Test Readability (1951), How to Write Better (1951), The Art of Plain Talk (1946), The Art of Readable Writing (1949), The ABC of Style: A Guide to Plain English (1964), and Rudolf Flesch on Business Communications: How to Say What You Mean in Plain English (1972).
Flesch produced three other books of note:
In The Art of Clear Thinking (1951), Flesch consolidates research data and then-recent findings from the fields of psychology and education, and suggests how his readers can apply that information in their daily life. As he writes in his introduction, "It would be impudent to tell intelligent, grown up people how to think. All I have tried to do here is to assemble certain known facts about the human mind and put them in plain English."
In Lite English (1983), Flesch advocated the use of many colloquial and informal words. The subtitle of the book reveals his bias: Popular Words That Are OK to Use No Matter What William Safire, John Simon, Edwin Newman, and the Other Purists Say!
And in 1979, Flesch published a book he had produced while working as a communication and writing consultant to the Federal Communications Commission: How to Write Plain English: A Book for Lawyers and Consumers. This book was and is a "how to" for writing rules and regulations that must be read and understood by the general public.
Rudolf Flesch (8 May 1911 – 5 October 1986) was an author, readability expert, and writing consultant who was an early and vigorous proponent of plain English in the United States. He created the Flesch Reading Ease test and was co-creator of the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test. He was raised in Austria and finished university there, studying law. He then moved to the United States and entered a graduate program at Columbia University, where he earned a Ph.D in English.
Flesch was born in Vienna, Austria. He fled to the United States to avoid the imminent invasion of the Nazis, to avoid Jewish prosecution. Once in America, he met Elizabeth Terpenning, whom he married. They had six children: Anne, Hugo, Jillian, Katrina, Abigal, and Janet. Flesch lived the majority of his life with his wife and children in Dobbs Ferry, New York, a small village in southern Westchester county.
[edit] Professional Information
Not long after finishing his degree, he wrote what became his most famous book, Why Johnny Can't Read, in 1955. The book was a focused critique of the then-trendy movement to teach reading by sight, often called the "look-say" method. The flaw of this approach, according to Flesch, was that it required learners to memorize words by sight. When confronted with an unknown word, the learner was stumped. Flesch advocated a return to phonics, the teaching of reading by teaching learners to sound out words.
Flesch flourished as a writing teacher, plain-English consultant, and author. He wrote many books on the subject of clear, effective communication: How to Test Readability (1951), How to Write Better (1951), The Art of Plain Talk (1946), The Art of Readable Writing (1949), The ABC of Style: A Guide to Plain English (1964), and Rudolf Flesch on Business Communications: How to Say What You Mean in Plain English (1972).
Flesch produced three other books of note:
In The Art of Clear Thinking (1951), Flesch consolidates research data and then-recent findings from the fields of psychology and education, and suggests how his readers can apply that information in their daily life. As he writes in his introduction, "It would be impudent to tell intelligent, grown up people how to think. All I have tried to do here is to assemble certain known facts about the human mind and put them in plain English."
In Lite English (1983), Flesch advocated the use of many colloquial and informal words. The subtitle of the book reveals his bias: Popular Words That Are OK to Use No Matter What William Safire, John Simon, Edwin Newman, and the Other Purists Say!
And in 1979, Flesch published a book he had produced while working as a communication and writing consultant to the Federal Communications Commission: How to Write Plain English: A Book for Lawyers and Consumers. This book was and is a "how to" for writing rules and regulations that must be read and understood by the general public.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 17, 2020
The title may be slightly misleading: Flesch emphasizes effective writing, offers some good tips on effective thinking, and skips the speaking thing entirely.
But hey, I was just in it for the writing advice anyway, and it turns out his advice (wisdom?) is just phenomenal. So what that this was published in 1951? Don’t be ageist. It’s relevant now—more than ever, maybe.
After all, thanks to internet magic we have access today to more writing than ever before—much of it brand new, millions and millions of new words every day in articles, blog posts, opinion pieces, essays, comments, reviews. The chattering classes, as the linguist John McWhorter puts it, are “endlessly verbal.” We middle-classers have just enough education to not know how to shut up.
To put it bluntly, there’s never been so much bad writing available. Ignore for a moment the total catastrophe of how teens write (I don’t mean for school; I mean how they actually communicate informally with each other through everyday written language—a pidgin English steeped in irony and totally dependent on emoticons, memes, and gifs). It’s not entirely their fault; no wonder they write like that if the alternative is the ingrown toenail of elitist jargon: the dry, unreadable, excruciatingly boring prose that dominates science, law, academia, and the tax code.
And lest I be unmasked as a hypocrite, lo, I unmask myself. I am a bad writer. I write so bad. When I disgorge words, the chunks stink. I write clumsily, boringly, and overlongly.
So I’m licking up Flesch’s strategies like a deer that just found Lot’s wife. Here are some I remember: Condense, simplify, use active voice, use verbs, use small Anglo-Saxon words (KJV style), avoid Latin polysyllables, use first and second person, quote where possible, reduce sentence length, use symbols, use punctuation except exclamation points, omit the word that wherever possible, replace which with that wherever possible, use contractions, use italics, use parentheses, write about people, and write as if you’re speaking.
Those are just some I remember. You’ll want to read the book for yourself.
But hey, I was just in it for the writing advice anyway, and it turns out his advice (wisdom?) is just phenomenal. So what that this was published in 1951? Don’t be ageist. It’s relevant now—more than ever, maybe.
After all, thanks to internet magic we have access today to more writing than ever before—much of it brand new, millions and millions of new words every day in articles, blog posts, opinion pieces, essays, comments, reviews. The chattering classes, as the linguist John McWhorter puts it, are “endlessly verbal.” We middle-classers have just enough education to not know how to shut up.
To put it bluntly, there’s never been so much bad writing available. Ignore for a moment the total catastrophe of how teens write (I don’t mean for school; I mean how they actually communicate informally with each other through everyday written language—a pidgin English steeped in irony and totally dependent on emoticons, memes, and gifs). It’s not entirely their fault; no wonder they write like that if the alternative is the ingrown toenail of elitist jargon: the dry, unreadable, excruciatingly boring prose that dominates science, law, academia, and the tax code.
And lest I be unmasked as a hypocrite, lo, I unmask myself. I am a bad writer. I write so bad. When I disgorge words, the chunks stink. I write clumsily, boringly, and overlongly.
So I’m licking up Flesch’s strategies like a deer that just found Lot’s wife. Here are some I remember: Condense, simplify, use active voice, use verbs, use small Anglo-Saxon words (KJV style), avoid Latin polysyllables, use first and second person, quote where possible, reduce sentence length, use symbols, use punctuation except exclamation points, omit the word that wherever possible, replace which with that wherever possible, use contractions, use italics, use parentheses, write about people, and write as if you’re speaking.
Those are just some I remember. You’ll want to read the book for yourself.
March 14, 2011
One of my favorite readings.
February 2, 2023
This book has been really important in life to me. I first came across it ...or maybe it was an earlier version..in about 1967 when I was writing a master's thesis and it just blew me away, For the first time that I could recall, somebody had actually taken the trouble to compare what was in a piece of prose: in terms of number of pronouns, number of verbs, length of sentences etc., and the comprehension retention of the content. I think this was Flesch's Phd research project...or something like this and I think he wrote the original versions around 1946 in conjunction with another author. But it really opened my eyes to what good writing could be. He is not saying that one should never write like Proust with one sentence continuing over 3 pages or having dozens of adjectives in the one sentence. But he is saying that if you want to be read and understood then you should pay attention to these rules.
1. Write about people, things, and facts.
2. Write as you talk.
3. Use contractions
4. Use the first person
5. Quote what was said
6. Quote what was written
7. Put yourself in the reader's place
8. Don't hurt the reader's feelings
9. Forestall misunderstandings
10. Don't be too brief
11. Plan a beginning, middle and end
12. Go from the rule to the exception, from the familiar to the new
13. Use short names and abbreviations
14. Use pronouns rather than repeating nouns
15. Use verbs rather than nouns
16. Use the active voice and a personal subject
17. use small, round figures (I'm assuming he means numbers here)
18. Specify. Use illustrations, cases, examples
19. Start a new sentence for each new idea
20. Keep your sentences short
21. Keep your paragraphs short
22. Use direct questions
23. Underline for emphasis
24. Use parenthesis for casual mention
25. Make your writing interesting to look at.
As I've just copied out these rules, I realised how many of them have stuck with me over the years....almost as if I've had Rudolph sitting on my shoulder whispering in my ear: use short sentences, round off your numbers, use verbs....use pronouns. etc.
The great strength of the work is that he's actual demonstrated that all of these work: they increase the readability and the comprehension.
I used his technique for analysing my thesis and various research papers that I published based on my thesis. In those days it was hard work....actually taking random pages and counting words etc. Today it's a simple as using the tool built into Microsoft Word. (They actually adopted his methodology.....I hope he gets some royalties).
More recently, I wrote a guide book for the United Nations ....which was subjected to exhaustive peer reviews. One of the reviewers criticised my writing style as being "too informal". However, I had run the publication through the Flesch test and was able to say that it was written at the level which was appropriate for a US high school graduate to understand. Both the editor and the head of publications agreed that this was "just right" for the target audience which would include many people for whom English was not their first language. So my critic was set right back in his place.
I've given a copy of this book to all of my children with the strong recommendation that they apply it to their written work.
My recollection is that when I first read this book it was really just about writing and the speaking, and the thinking bit came later. But I can't be sure. Anyway, it's kind of more of the same. Try and be clear; anticipate misunderstandings etc., and I have consciously tried to do this. (Though my wife would say that I'm a poor communicator....c'est la vie).
Anyway, bottom line.....this is an old book now but still a great book and well worth the time to digest and understand and apply the rules. Many books have since emerged and are maybe a bit slicker and have advanced Flesch's principles slightly...but it's as good or much better than anything else I've ever read on the subject. Easily worth five stars from me.
1. Write about people, things, and facts.
2. Write as you talk.
3. Use contractions
4. Use the first person
5. Quote what was said
6. Quote what was written
7. Put yourself in the reader's place
8. Don't hurt the reader's feelings
9. Forestall misunderstandings
10. Don't be too brief
11. Plan a beginning, middle and end
12. Go from the rule to the exception, from the familiar to the new
13. Use short names and abbreviations
14. Use pronouns rather than repeating nouns
15. Use verbs rather than nouns
16. Use the active voice and a personal subject
17. use small, round figures (I'm assuming he means numbers here)
18. Specify. Use illustrations, cases, examples
19. Start a new sentence for each new idea
20. Keep your sentences short
21. Keep your paragraphs short
22. Use direct questions
23. Underline for emphasis
24. Use parenthesis for casual mention
25. Make your writing interesting to look at.
As I've just copied out these rules, I realised how many of them have stuck with me over the years....almost as if I've had Rudolph sitting on my shoulder whispering in my ear: use short sentences, round off your numbers, use verbs....use pronouns. etc.
The great strength of the work is that he's actual demonstrated that all of these work: they increase the readability and the comprehension.
I used his technique for analysing my thesis and various research papers that I published based on my thesis. In those days it was hard work....actually taking random pages and counting words etc. Today it's a simple as using the tool built into Microsoft Word. (They actually adopted his methodology.....I hope he gets some royalties).
More recently, I wrote a guide book for the United Nations ....which was subjected to exhaustive peer reviews. One of the reviewers criticised my writing style as being "too informal". However, I had run the publication through the Flesch test and was able to say that it was written at the level which was appropriate for a US high school graduate to understand. Both the editor and the head of publications agreed that this was "just right" for the target audience which would include many people for whom English was not their first language. So my critic was set right back in his place.
I've given a copy of this book to all of my children with the strong recommendation that they apply it to their written work.
My recollection is that when I first read this book it was really just about writing and the speaking, and the thinking bit came later. But I can't be sure. Anyway, it's kind of more of the same. Try and be clear; anticipate misunderstandings etc., and I have consciously tried to do this. (Though my wife would say that I'm a poor communicator....c'est la vie).
Anyway, bottom line.....this is an old book now but still a great book and well worth the time to digest and understand and apply the rules. Many books have since emerged and are maybe a bit slicker and have advanced Flesch's principles slightly...but it's as good or much better than anything else I've ever read on the subject. Easily worth five stars from me.
April 28, 2020
The book does exactly what it says - except the speaking part. It reads like an average cook-books; It definitely helps me developed both my writing & thinking skills.
Now then, it's highly recommended for journalistic-writer who engages in national news institution (e.g. Daily Newspaper, News Articles, Journal papers and etc). Also, it will be helpful for those layman like me - it does help.
Apparently, it lacks speaking skills chapter that saddened me most - hence 4 stars rating. Nonetheless, I'm proud that I gained many valuables in this book.
Now then, it's highly recommended for journalistic-writer who engages in national news institution (e.g. Daily Newspaper, News Articles, Journal papers and etc). Also, it will be helpful for those layman like me - it does help.
Apparently, it lacks speaking skills chapter that saddened me most - hence 4 stars rating. Nonetheless, I'm proud that I gained many valuables in this book.
April 28, 2022
this was super hard to get through. i wish the author had more zest in his speech because it took me 2 hours to read this and i don’t feel anything. i dont feel humored, i dont feel smarter, i dont feel more passionate about my possible future career as a writer. the information was solid, but nothing i didn’t really already know. maybe this was just below my level? but im a 19 year old so its odd that such a mature-adultish seeming book gave such bare boned advice from my perspective
October 9, 2023
While some of the examples may be dated, the clear and effective instructions are spot on. Highly recommended.
December 4, 2019
Interesting book. Not extraordinarily helpful if you’re not a writer, but the bits of the book that dealt with clear thinking and translation were every interesting to me.
I think this book would have been better in three installments - one book for reading, one for speaking, and one for thinking.
Admittedly, I don’t remember any part of the book that was meant to teach me to speak better...
I think this book would have been better in three installments - one book for reading, one for speaking, and one for thinking.
Admittedly, I don’t remember any part of the book that was meant to teach me to speak better...
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews