How to Improve Your Readability Score

The fastest way to improve your readability score is to shorten sentences to 15–20 words and swap 3-syllable words for 1-syllable ones — those two edits typically lift a score 15–25 points. Measure your draft with our free readability score calculator, apply the five techniques below, and re-check.

Shorten sentences: the 25-to-15 edit

The single highest-volume edit is cutting average sentence length from the mid-20s to the mid-teens. Take a 27-word sentence: 'The implementation of the new policy will require all department managers to submit their quarterly reports no later than the fifteenth day of the final month of each quarter without exception.' Split it: 'The new policy requires all managers to submit quarterly reports. The deadline is the fifteenth day of the quarter's final month. There are no exceptions.' Three sentences, 9, 12, and 4 words — average 8.3 versus 27. At scale, moving a 2,000-word article from a 26-word average to a 16-word average gains roughly 10 points (10 × 1.015) before you touch a single word choice. The technique that makes this painless: split at conjunctions. Most 30-word sentences are two good sentences joined by 'and,' 'which,' or 'because' — find the conjunction, replace it with a period, and capitalize. Then vary rhythm deliberately: a 6-word sentence after two 18-word sentences reads as emphasis, not choppiness. Professional web copy averages 15–20 words per sentence with wide variation around the mean; academic prose runs 20–25. Pushing below 12 words per sentence across a whole article starts to read as staccato, so treat 15–20 as the band and let individual sentences range from 4 to 30. Count as you go — a readability calculator shows the average updating live, which turns sentence-splitting into a game with a visible score.

Swap Latinate words for plain ones

Because the formula weights syllables 83× harder than sentence length, vocabulary swaps are the highest-leverage edit per keystroke. The swap list every editor keeps: utilize → use (3 syllables → 1), facilitate → help, commence → start, purchase → buy, individual → person, numerous → many, demonstrate → show, regarding → about, sufficient → enough, attempt → try. Each swap of a 3-syllable word for a 1-syllable word in a 200-word passage cuts ASW by 0.01 and gains 0.85 points — make twenty such swaps and you have gained 17 points without restructuring a single sentence. The trap is jargon that carries meaning: 'photosynthesis' and 'mortgage' are polysyllabic but irreplaceable in their contexts — the formula cannot tell necessary terminology from throat-clearing, so protect domain terms and cut only the decorative Latinate words. A practical filter: if a simpler word changes the meaning, keep the complex one; if it only changes the tone, swap it. 'Utilize' never changes meaning — it only sounds formal. Watch for nominalizations too: 'make a decision' → 'decide,' 'conduct an analysis' → 'analyze,' 'provide assistance' → 'help' — each one deletes a syllable-heavy noun and shortens the sentence simultaneously, a double win the formula rewards twice.

Switch passive voice to active voice

Passive constructions inflate both inputs the formula measures: they add helper verbs ('was,' 'has been') and bury the actor in prepositional phrases. 'The report was written by the committee over the course of three weeks' (14 words) becomes 'The committee wrote the report in three weeks' (8 words) — 6 words deleted, 43% shorter. Across a document, converting passives typically trims 10–15% of total words while keeping every fact, which lifts the score through the sentence-length term. The editing move is mechanical: find 'was/were/been/by' clusters, ask 'who did what,' and lead with the actor. 'Mistakes were made in the handling of your account' → 'We mishandled your account' — shorter, clearer, and more honest, which is why the active version also tests better with readers. Not every passive must die: 'The samples were heated to 300°C' is correct in lab writing because the actor is irrelevant. The readability goal is a ratio, not a ban — aim for under 10% passive sentences in general prose, and let technical or scientific writing run higher. A useful side effect: active voice forces concrete subjects ('the committee,' 'we'), which kills the vague 'it is believed that' openers that pad syllable counts. After a passive-voice pass, re-run your draft through the readability score calculator — writers typically see a 5–8 point gain from this pass alone.

Cut throat-clearing and hedge phrases

The fourth pass targets phrases that add syllables without adding meaning — the verbal equivalent of empty calories. The hit list: 'in order to' → 'to' (3 words → 1), 'due to the fact that' → 'because' (5 → 1), 'at this point in time' → 'now' (5 → 1), 'in the event that' → 'if' (4 → 1), 'it is important to note that' → delete entirely. A 1,500-word business report typically contains 40–60 such phrases; deleting them removes 150–250 words (10–15% of the document) and a disproportionate share of polysyllabic filler. Hedge phrases deserve their own sweep: 'somewhat,' 'relatively,' 'in a sense,' 'to a certain extent' — each adds syllables while subtracting conviction. Either the qualifier matters (keep it and be specific: 'relatively cheap' → '$12, half the competitor's price') or it does not (delete it). This pass pairs naturally with a length check — our word counter shows the word count dropping in real time, which keeps the editing honest. Then do a final three-pass workflow: pass one splits long sentences, pass two swaps vocabulary, pass three deletes filler — and measure after each pass so you know which edit moved the score. Most drafts need only two cycles to reach their target band; if the score will not budge, the topic itself may demand the terminology, and that is the formula telling you the truth.

A real before/after: 42 to 71 in three passes

Here is the technique stack applied to one paragraph. Before (score 42): 'The utilization of overly complex terminology in the composition of business communications frequently results in a significant reduction in the comprehension levels of the intended recipients, which is a situation that can be avoided through the implementation of simplified language protocols.' That is 41 words, one sentence, ASL 41, ASW ~2.1. Pass one — split sentences: 'Complex words in business writing reduce comprehension. This is avoidable.' Pass two — swap vocabulary: 'utilization' → 'use,' 'composition' → 'writing,' 'implementation' → 'use.' Pass three — delete filler: 'frequently,' 'significant,' 'intended' trimmed. After: 'Complex words in business writing reduce comprehension. Use simple language instead.' Two sentences, 13 words, ASL 6.5, ASW ~1.6 — score 71, a 29-point gain, and the meaning is identical. The paragraph lost 28 words (68%) while keeping every idea. This is the normal shape of a readability edit: the first draft says it with 40 words, the final draft says it with 13, and readers understand the 13-word version faster. The workflow scales: apply the three passes to a 2,000-word article and expect 300–400 words deleted and a 15–25 point score gain, in about 45 minutes of editing. Writers who do this weekly internalize the patterns — within a month, first drafts land 10 points higher because the swaps happen during composition, not revision. For estimating how long readers spend with the result, see our reading-time guide. Freelancers can translate editing time into invoices with our minutes to hours converter, and our PDF word-count guide covers measuring readability in documents that resist copy-paste.