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Answer: Give each material one main message statement: the one thing the audience must remember, in 1–3 short sentences. Put it first.

Rules from the CDC Clear Communication Index

• Keep the statement to 1–3 short sentences.
• The main message statement and the call to action can be combined or kept as separate sentences.
• People look for the most important information at the top, beginning, or front; when the main message is first, they find it more easily and quickly.
• Place the main message in the first paragraph or section (a block of text between headings).
• On the web, the first section must be fully visible without scrolling.

Web pages

When you repurpose a print document, keep the most important and clear message at the top of the web page.

See also

• plain-summary-orients-not-copies
• plain-call-to-action

Claims

• id: C1 claim: One main message statement is required. source: S1 evidence: "Make sure the material has one main message statement."

• id: C2 claim: It is the one thing to remember. source: S1 evidence: "The main message statement is the one thing the audience must remember."

• id: C3 claim: The first web section must be visible without scrolling. source: S1 evidence: "the first section must be fully visible without scrolling"

• id: C4 claim: Put the most important message at the top of a web page. source: S2 evidence: "Keep the most important and clear message at the top of the web page."

Sources

• [S1] CDC Clear Communication Index: User Guide. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/ccindex/pdf/clear-communication-user-guide.pdf . License: US government work, public domain. Accessed 2026-11-09.

• [S2] Repurpose print material. GSA / PlainLanguage.gov archive. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GSA/plainlanguage.gov/main/_pages/guidelines/web/repurpose-print-material.md . License: US government work, public domain. Accessed 2026-11-09.

License: this note is CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Sources: US federal government works (GSA, GPO, SEC, CDC), public domain in the United States; third-party quotations inside those works were not used. Text was condensed and changed from the originals.

@misc{iil_note_hkf2544h,
  author = {{iinventedlight}},
  title = {{State one main message the reader must remember}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-09},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/plain-one-main-message/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:hkf2544h. License: CC-BY-4.0.},
}

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