Becky Fletcher, Senior Digital Writer at NetDoctor, is regarded as one of the UK’s leading fitness journalists, having worked with the likes of Health & Fitness, The Express, and Cosmopolitan. NetDoctor is the UK’s independent health website, which aims to break down the barriers between the expert and the consumer. We met with Becky to learn how you can use your blog to communicate complex concepts in a digestible and engaging way.

The Fitness Network:

What challenges are there that you face when communicating with your readers to make fitness content that’s engaging, and how do you solve these problems?

Becky:

Bridging the gap between good health and fitness information and an interesting article that is going to attract the reader, so finding interesting spin on studies. Identifying when there might be value in a study or information, which might not be immediately obvious. Recognising what might make a good news story. Spend a lot of time trawling through Twitter and researching what people are talking about. Knowing what does and doesn’t work for your brand in terms of stories and making sure you stick to this – this will be specific for each brand but for ours it’s only reporting on something that is expert led and backed up by science.

The Fitness Network:

Are there any language tips you can provide for communicating complex health and fitness concepts and studies?

Becky:

I think it’s often about keeping sentences short and avoiding waffle, so the idea is easily digestible and understandable to the reader.

Sometimes I am presented with studies that you would need a master’s degree in Biology to understand. In this case I might pick out one line in the study which is a good finding and then ask an expert to make it more understandable. You don’t want to misrepresent information so I always double check that what I am writing is factually sound.

The Fitness Network:

Should buzzwords and phrases be used?

Becky:

Try to steer clear of buzzwords unless they have really good value. For example, avoid words like ‘detox’ that could potentially be misused. An example of a word that is valuable would use would be ‘HIIT’ because it is science backed. Always define the term at the beginning of the article if you are going to use it.

The Fitness Network:

Should you use multimedia to communicate with your reader?

Becky:

Images are one of the most important elements for making health and fitness articles more readable. Try to use lifestyle imagery which is modern, diverse and happy, avoiding anything too gruesome or serious. Images break up long articles, making them short, snappy and easier on the eye to the audience.

The Fitness Network:

Do you have any tips for communicating on social media?

Becky:

Keep posts chatty, warm and engaging. We find infographics are readily shared.