Day 261: Provide details in examples to increase engagement.

When the idea is complex or unfamiliar to the reader, an example or anecdote can help the reader understand. For this reason, they are important, and you want the reader to pay attention to them. This means that you need to engage your reader.

One effective way to increase reader engagement in your examples is to name the details. For example, if you are writing about changing ethics in today’s society, you might provide an example about how people respond to money they find. You could begin this example as follows:

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“A man working in a store leaves change on the counter.”

This sentence is pretty dull. It doesn’t give the reader anyone or anything to visualize because it doesn’t provide the details of this anecdote. What’s happening here? To improve this example of the concept, we could revise this as follows.

“Bob is a new checker at Piggly Wiggly. He goes on break and doesn’t notice that he has left a roll of quarters on the counter.”

(Note: Piggly Wiggly is a real grocery store chain. It used to be the largest in the U.S.)

The result of this is that the reader can form a mental picture, identify with the people in the example, and remember the example. And that leads to greater understanding and application of your concept.