How to write SOPs and emails at a low reading level

A low reading level isn't about dumbing anything down. It's about removing unnecessary friction between what you mean and what your reader understands, especially for SOPs, which are often read quickly, under time pressure, by someone who didn't write them, and for customer emails, which are often skimmed on a phone. The rules below are simple, and the hard part is actually applying them to your own writing, which is where a checker tool helps.

The core rules

• Shorter sentences. Aim for one idea per sentence. If you find yourself writing "and" or "which" three times in one sentence, split it into two or three.
• Plain words over formal ones. "Use" instead of "utilize." "Find out" instead of "ascertain." "Start" instead of "commence." None of these plain versions lose meaning, they just remove a small amount of friction for the reader.
• Active voice over passive. "Check the valve before you close it" reads faster than "The valve should be checked prior to closure." Active voice also removes ambiguity about who's doing the action, which matters a lot in an SOP.
• One instruction per sentence, in order. SOPs especially should read like a numbered list even when they're written in prose: step, then step, then step, not three steps folded into one sentence with commas.
• Concrete over abstract. "Reply within 2 business hours" beats "respond in a timely manner." A number and a unit remove the guesswork a vague phrase creates.
• Cut qualifier words that add nothing. "Very," "really," "basically," "essentially" rarely change the meaning of a sentence and just add length.

Before and after examples

SOP step, before: "Prior to the commencement of the onboarding procedure, it is essential that all relevant documentation has been collected and subsequently verified by a supervisor."

SOP step, after: "Before you start onboarding, collect all required documents. Have a supervisor check them."

Customer email, before: "We wanted to reach out and let you know that, due to circumstances beyond our control, your order may potentially experience a slight delay in its anticipated delivery timeframe."

Customer email, after: "Your order will arrive 2 days later than planned. We're sorry for the delay."

The "after" versions aren't shorter because they cut information, they're shorter because they cut the padding that formal-sounding writing tends to accumulate. Both versions take the same time to say the same thing; one just makes the reader work harder to get there. The same habits apply to agreements, as shown in clear contract language customers understand.

Which tools actually help with this?

Hemingway Editor, a tool built specifically to flag overly complex sentences and score your writing's reading grade level, is the most direct fit for this exact goal. Confirmed from hemingwayapp.com on 30 October 2026: it offers free online tools (a grammar checker, a paraphrasing tool, an AI proofreader and a readability checker), plus a paid Hemingway Editor Plus tier with a 14-day free trial and no credit card required. The page did not disclose Plus's price after the trial anywhere in its content, so confirm that directly if you plan to use it past the trial. Paste a draft SOP step or email into the free online checker and it will flag passive voice, adverbs, and sentences it considers hard to read, with a grade-level score at the bottom.

QuillBot, a paraphrasing tool with a dedicated "Simple" mode, can rewrite a jargon-heavy sentence into plainer language in one step, which is faster than manually rewriting it yourself once you've identified the problem sentence. QuillBot's own site blocked automated fetching for this article, so I can't confirm its current exact price here, see my full QuillBot review for what the free and paid tiers include and how to check live pricing.

Grammarly, a writing assistant built around real-time grammar and clarity correction, confirmed from grammarly.com/premium on 30 October 2026, includes a tone detector on both its free and Pro plans that flags when a passage reads as overly formal, plus full-sentence rewrite suggestions on Pro ($12 a month per seat annually or $30 a month billed monthly). It's not built around a reading-level score the way Hemingway is, but its tone flag is a useful second signal. For a wider comparison, see the best grammar checker for business emails and SOPs.

Understanding the grade-level score

Most readability checkers, including Hemingway Editor's, score text using a formula like the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, which estimates the US school grade a reader would need to understand a passage on a first read, based mainly on average sentence length and the number of syllables per word. A score of 6 means the passage reads at roughly a 6th-grade level. This isn't a judgment of the reader's intelligence, it's a measure of how much working memory a sentence demands: longer sentences with more syllables ask the reader to hold more in mind before the meaning resolves. For a tired technician mid-shift or a customer reading on their phone between tasks, a lower score means the instruction lands on the first read instead of the second or third.

One more worked example, this time a safety instruction: "In the event that the equipment exhibits any signs of malfunction, personnel are required to immediately cease operation and notify a supervisor." That scores well into double-digit grade level. Rewritten plainly: "If the equipment seems to be malfunctioning, stop using it right away and tell a supervisor." Same instruction, same urgency, but the second version scores around a 6th-grade level and reads noticeably faster under pressure, exactly the condition an SOP needs to perform well in.

A practical workflow

1. Write the SOP step or email normally, without worrying about reading level on the first pass.
2. Paste it into Hemingway's free online checker and look at the grade-level score and the sentences it highlights as hard to read.
3. Rewrite the flagged sentences yourself using the core rules above, or run them through QuillBot's Simple mode if you want a faster first pass.
4. Read it out loud once. If you stumble or run out of breath mid-sentence, it's still too long.
5. For SOPs specifically, have someone unfamiliar with the task read your draft and try to follow it without asking you a question. Every question they ask is a sentence that needs simplifying.

Common mistakes when trying to write plainly

• Confusing "plain" with "short." A plain sentence can be long if it's a simple list of concrete steps. The goal is clarity, not an arbitrary word count.
• Removing necessary detail to hit a grade-level score. If a safety step genuinely needs a qualifier or a specific number, keep it. Readability tools score sentence structure, not whether you've kept the information your reader actually needs.
• Treating one pass through a checker as final. Tools like Hemingway catch structural issues, not whether the SOP step actually matches what happens on the floor. Have someone who does the task check it too.

How does Blur Studio approach SOP writing?

I build the systems businesses run on, not the writing tools, but I see a lot of SOPs that have drifted into formal, hard-to-follow language over years of edits by different people. If your SOP library has grown into something nobody can actually navigate or follow quickly, that's often a sign the underlying system, not just the wording, needs a rebuild.