Why good messages written for full attention die in the Third Space.
- Jan 22
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 23
Back in November, a photo went viral of Scott Kelly's resume being read during a Jonas Bros concert.
Not by the CEO at their desk in a quiet room, with full attention
But at a concert - with lights, crowds screaming, loud music playing
And it perfectly captured how busy people consume information.
According to research from the Nielsen Norman Group:
79% of users scan any new page they come across; only 16% read word by word.
That’s because attention exists on a spectrum.
First Space – Full attention: Ideal conditions
Quiet. Focused. Long explanations, in-depth knowledge and features can survive here.
Second Space – Total distraction: Doomscrolling. Nobody’s paying attention.
Clickbait and Attention rules apply here; otherwise, your message is dead on arrival.
Third Space – Fragmented focus: The grey zone.
Where your carefully crafted messages meet their multitasking minds.
Readers don’t read line by line — they scan for meaning.
Most B2B messages will land here.
(You're probably doing it right now. reading this while waiting for the train, or in between meetings.)
So let’s be clear: this isn’t about doomscrolling
Third Space reading often happens when the reading is necessary, not optional.
The email before the meeting,
The annual report before the investment
The email from Frank in Finance about budget cuts
The warranty instructions for your new phone.
You know you have to read it.
You just don’t have the time, attention, or mental bandwidth to read every word.
The Third Space is a psychological state.
In the Third Space, people aren’t reading deeply.
They’re filtering.
Psychologists call this peripheral processing — the brain’s shortcut to making snap judgments about what’s relevant without reading deeply.
Does this matter to me?
Is this new or familiar?
Is it simple enough to remember later?
Because people aren’t thinking, “I will now read and comprehend this.” They’re thinking, “Is this useful? Do I need this? What do I need to remember?”
That’s Third Space reading.
And if you want your message to survive, you need to start designing for it
Designing Messages for the Third Space
In the third space, people will often skim-read first to understand the gist of the message before they commit to reading it fully.
They'll miss lines and paragraphs, filling in the gaps themselves.
This isn’t about encouraging lazy, careless reading — it’s about getting people to what matters, despite limited time and attention.
It’s efficient filtering in the hope they'll return to your message and read it in the First Space.
In the Third Space, people don’t read line by line.
They scan for meaning.
Eye-tracking studies show that most people don’t read content top to bottom.
They read in an F shape.
attention at the top
scanning down the left
skipping dense blocks
This means your audience's attention lives in:
the headline
the opening lines
the first few words of each paragraph
the left edge of the page
All before they decide if they need to read more.
8 Ways to Design Messages for the Third Space
Lead with your Core message (key insight, takeaway, or emotion. (K.I.T.E).
Your core message is the single, non-negotiable idea that must survive no matter what.
Not a slogan.
Not a headline.
Not a campaign line.
It’s the one idea you want remembered, repeated, or acted on.
Ask yourself:
If someone reads this once while distracted, what do they absolutely need to understand?
What do I want my audience to remember?
Why should your audience care?
Which information is most important?
Put the core message where the eye goes
If your core message appears once, buried in paragraph five, your audience will miss it.
Don’t make them hunt for it.
Make it impossible to miss in the first two lines.
Use short paragraphs, clear signposting, and front-loaded sentences where meaning comes first, and explanation comes second.
Not: “In today’s fast-moving environment…”
Try: “If your message needs full attention, it won’t survive.”
Layer, repeat, guide attention and repeat again
People remember:
what they see first,
and what they see last
People in the Third Space need reminders.
On The Joe Rogan Experience, while discussing his and Ben's new movie, Matt shared that Netflix often asks filmmakers to repeat key plot points three or four times, because movies now require a “different level of attention.”
It's the same with your content.
Repeat the most critical points in slightly different ways.
Use subheadings as message carriers, not labels.
Not: “Introduction”
Try: “A better way to save money..”
Remember: If someone only reads your headings, they should still be able to understand the story.
Make the left edge do the heavy lifting
In F-shaped skimming, the left margin is prime real estate.
Start paragraphs with strong, meaningful words
Put the insight in the first sentence, not the last
Use bullets where each line can stand alone
If the first five words don’t carry meaning, they won’t be read.
Break it into snackable chunks
Fragmented readers avoid anything that looks like effort.
People digest a micro-message with 2-3 sentences better than dense blocks of text.
Chunking reduces cognitive load. When the brain sees smaller sections, it thinks: “Okay, I can handle this.”
It gives readers permission to pause—to take in a point, then move on.
It encourages skimming with structure. People can jump from chunk to chunk without getting lost.
Use bullet points to guide attention, not dump information
Bullet points work because they give the eye clear entry points.
They:
highlight what matters
make long content feel manageable and reduce cognitive load
Think of bullet points as arrows pointing to your most important insights, arguments, or actions. They help simplify without oversimplifying
Keep them short — one idea per point
Start each with a strong word
Limit lists to 3–5 items
Add Visuals that enhance and add to your message, not distract
Visuals should work for your message, not compete with it.
A strong visual should:
Reinforce the core message
Guide attention
Make abstract ideas tangible
A good visual is often remembered long after the words are read.
If the visual doesn’t make sense without the caption, rethink it.
Establish clear visual hierarchy
Typographic hierarchy is a map that shows the reader
which information to focus on
which is simply supporting text.
where to look next
Good content should include three levels of hierarchy: heading, subheading, and body text.
You can sort your Content into three separate levels by asking:
Level One: What do you want your reader to see first that will grab their attention?
Level Two: What gives the reader clues about what they are about to read and why they should continue?
Level Three: The body of your message - where can they go for more detail.
Vary the font sizes, weights, and styles to emphasise key points, highlight important information, and create a clear flow of content.
White space Sometimes, the most powerful thing you can write… is nothing at all.
White space (sometimes called “negative space”) is the empty space between
between paragraphs
around images
at the edges of the page
and between lines of text
White space is not wasted space.
White space lets your content breathe.
Dense blocks of text can overwhelm the eye. White space lets readers pause, breathe, and process what they’ve just read. and gives the brain a break.
It improves comprehension: Studies show that generous use of white space increases understanding by making information easier to follow.
It directs attention: White space can direct the eye to a headline, quote, or CTA
Great content with good design doesn’t add more information.
It prioritises what matters.
You don’t beat Third Space skimming by writing better paragraphs.
You beat it by:
making meaning visible
repeating what matters
designing for how your audience reads, not hoping for full focus
And when you design for the chaos of the Third Space, your messaging won’t just be seen. They’ll survive.
Questions to ask your team
Will this survive the Third Space?
Is it clear enough to remember?
Visual enough to repeat?
Simple enough to survive retelling?.
If someone in the Third Space can still tell the story of your core message to a colleague accurately, you’ve succeeded.
source: Scott Kelly's Resume
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