Writing tip 3: What's wrong with block capitals?

You don't see block capitals in many business documents these days — and with good reason. Research has shown that people find it very difficult to read block capitals because there are no ascenders or descenders to distinguish the letters. All the letters are the same height, making the reader work much harder.

Consequently people tend to scan over block capitals, rather than reading them as words. This is particularly worrying if block capitals are used to emphasise important information.

See how much harder the previous paragraph is to read when put in block capitals.

CONSEQUENTLY PEOPLE TEND TO SCAN OVER BLOCK CAPITALS, RATHER THAN READING THEM AS WORDS. THIS IS PARTICULARLY WORRYING IF BLOCK CAPITALS ARE USED TO EMPHASISE IMPORTANT INFORMATION.

The longer the text, the harder it is to read and comprehend quickly. Increase the chances of your text being read by using mixed case — it works!

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