Impactful Communication in the Age of Information Overload 

Feel as though you’re wading through dozens of emails, social media posts, news articles, text messages, news streams, radio messages, podcast voices, and Teams messages each day? You’re not alone. The flow of information is seemingly never-ending and growing by the day, yet our mental bandwidth isn’t expanding to match its pace.  

The best communicators in today’s society understand this disconnect. Strong strategic communicators aren’t just talented writers and designers; they are also skilled at cutting through the noise and creating a sense of clarity within a chaotic environment. Knowing what you are writing about is important, but equally as important, is knowing how to write so that your readers can easily navigate and absorb the information. Below, I’ll detail key concepts that the FMP Strategic Communications team members incorporate into our projects to ensure we effectively communicate the intended message.  

Designing for digital consumption patterns

Gone are the days when readers would sit and read an email or communication line by line, start to finish. Instead, most readers scan the information for key takeaways.

Here are a few common eye-scanning patterns:

• F pattern – Imagine your eyes moving across the top of a page, from left to right. Then move your eyes down the left side of the page. Repeat this motion as you move down the page, making each horizontal scan across the page smaller and smaller until you reach the bottom. When overlaid on the page, this pattern resembles the capital letter “F,” thus the naming. This pattern is most common when there is a moderate to large number of words on the page.

• Z pattern – Imagine your eyes moving across the page, from left to right. Then you’re your eyes from the top right corner diagonally down to the bottom left. Finally, scan the bottom of the page from left to right. When overlaid on the page, this pattern resembles the capital letter “Z,” thus the naming. This is most common when there is a limited number of words on a page.

Understanding the audience’s options for reading patterns allows communicators to position the key information strategically and within the path of common eye-scanning patterns.

And digital consumption patterns aren’t only relevant to written content. Take video content – per a recent Forbes article, nearly 70% of video viewers now watch content with sound turned off. This further emphasizes the need for captioning as a standard in video content. Audiences seek to consume information in an engaging, easily-digestible format across media channels.

Formatting to save reading time

Let’s be real – time is of the essence for everyone. Building on the concept of eye-scanning patterns, it is imperative for communicators to format their writing and design with the goal of quick and easy digestion by the reader. Using key features strategically can elevate your messaging and allow the reader to digest more information, more efficiently and effectively.

• Incorporate icons and images – As people scan for information, icons and easily understood imagery can help to bolster the image. Aim to incorporate images or icons that do not carry multiple meanings or are difficult to decipher, as this will inadvertently cause the reader to pause.

• Use headers – Remembering back to the F and Z eye-scanning patterns, both rely heavily on key pieces of information to anchor the pattern. Using headers, with a distinguishable font, size, or color, can help the reader easily identify key messages. Imagine that headers are the top of the information hierarchy, and allow the information that falls beneath to serves as accompanying points that cascade. 

• Highlight with bolding – With the goal of bringing attention to key concepts or terms, bolding can be a helpful feature for those quickly scanning for information. Aim to limit this to a term or a few words at a time, as a sentence of bolding may come off as aggressive and decrease the impact.

• Use color – Color is a useful feature in bringing emphasis to key information. Place key information in a differently-colored box to drive the eye outside of a typical eye-scanning pattern or to further emphasize the information.

Limiting mental load

Today, we are constantly overwhelmed with the pings of Teams messages, calendar reminders, email notifications, and the beeps of text messages. Our attention alters between in-person and virtual meetings. We are managing multiple projects, across multiple technological platforms. All of this, combined with the sheer amount of decision-making and context-switching needed to manage these shifts, leads to fragmented and limited attention spans, and mental fatigue. 

Communicators have the opportunity to limit further mental overload by crafting conscientious communications with a few key features.

• Remember, less may be more – Aim to consolidate various messages into a single, well-organized communication. Keep this in mind for design as well. Balanced white space is your friend!

• Lead with key messages – Place the most important information at the top of the page or front of the deck. You likely lose the reader’s attention as they migrate down the page, so placing vital information at the top helps to draw focus to the most important information points.

• Summarize the key points – At the bottom of the page or end of the deck, summarize a few key points. Limit unnecessary background information, as it can water down the message. Aim to include no more than 3-5 key points or calls to action.

In the landscape of constant pings and notifications, decluttered and streamlined communication is essential for organizational effectiveness. Effective communicators write and design for the ways in which people read and process information in 2025 – ways that differ drastically from even a few years ago. Successful organizations prioritize both the art of plain language writing and the evolving science of media consumption patterns.

 Haley Fuller joined FMP in October 2023 and is a Senior Consultant working on strategic communications at the Office of Personnel Management. She earned an M.Ed. in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning from Penn State and B.S. in Health Promotion and Behavior from the University of Georgia. Haley has over a decade of experience working in the communications and human experience fields and thrives on simplifying complicated information into an easily digestible format. When not at work, Haley is jumping in puddles and finding good ice cream spots with her toddler and husband.