Today I attended a seminar on effective writing, hosted by Mathew Stibbe (writer for the Microsoft Partner Magazine), and I learnt about a handy tool to use to check the readability level of copy in Word and Outlook. This tool displays information on the readability by using two tests:

  • Flesch Reading Ease - This test rates text on a 100-point scale. The higher the score, the easier it is to understand the document. A good score is 60+
  • Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level - This test rates text on a U.S. school grade level. For example, a score of between 7 and 9 would apply to most articles in the broadsheet newspapers, whereas a score between 5 and 6 might apply to some of the glossy magazines I secretly read!

To enable this tool, follow the below instructions:

Word 2007

  1. Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Word Options.
  2. Click Proofing.
  3. Make sure Check grammar with spelling is selected.
  4. Under When correcting grammar in Word, select the Show readability statistics check box.

Outlook 2007

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  2. Click the Spelling tab, and then click Spelling and AutoCorrection.
  3. Click Proofing.
  4. Under When correcting grammar in Outlook, select the Check grammar with spelling check box.
  5. Select the Show readability statistics check box.

After you enable this feature, open a file that you want to check, and check the spelling. When Outlook or Word finishes checking the spelling and grammar, it displays information about the reading level of the document.

I just ran this tool on this article copy and I’m quite pleased with the results:

Hear more from Mathew Stibbe on his blog Badlanguage.net

Posted by Emma