Techniques to Guide Your Reader

As you can see from our reorganized food item list, the information is set up and presented in a way that will help the reader remember it. The new list includes a variety of techniques to help guide the reader:

Provide a context. Readers need a framework for understanding. The new list provides this through a title and a short preamble that indicates why remembering the list of items is important. The context can also set expectations for the reader.

Group related ideas. Food items are organized into memorable and relevant categories. The groupings follow logically from the context provided in the title and preamble.

Organize ideas into a hierarchy. The table is organized in a hierarchy to show how ideas in the list are related to each other. For example, major food groups and sub-categories are given greater prominence, and individual food items are given less prominence.

Of course, this example is only for a simple list. However, you will be able to apply these same techniques to your own writing.