The Third Space: The Attention Gap You’re Not Writing For.
- Vivien
- Nov 13
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Be honest - when was the last time you read a piece of corporate content from start to finish?
It's an uncomfortable truth, but your audience rarely gives you their full attention.
They’re not sitting with a coffee, leaning in, and reading every line of your content.
They’re glancing at it while waiting for a taxi. They’re skimming through it between back-to-back calls. They’re half-reading at the Jonas Bros Concert.
That’s what I call The Third Space —the in-between pocket of moments between your reader’s full attention and total distraction.
That blurry zone where your message either sticks... or slips away.
What Happens in the Third Space
When people encounter your message in the wild (email, LinkedIn, internal memo, slide deck…), they’re not deeply reading.
They’re filtering.
They’re in what psychologists call “divided attention” or “peripheral processing” — scanning for patterns, cues, and shortcuts rather than reading linearly.
They’re not thinking, “I will now read and comprehend this message.”
They’re thinking, “Is this useful? Do I need this? Should I remember this?”
People are not deep readers; they’re meaning hunters.
They don’t consume; they sample.
They don’t recall your exact words; they remember how it made sense to them.
They’re skimming for what’s relevant.
They’re taking mental notes of what to save or screenshot.
They’re deciding, “Is this worth remembering — or should I scroll past it?”
The Third Space is a psychological state —the grey zone between focused attention and complete distraction.
In this mode, people aren’t reading; they’re scanning.Their brain is on filter mode, looking for quick meaning:
Does this matter to me?
Is it new or familiar?
Is it simple enough to remember later?
Researchers call this peripheral processing —it’s how we make snap judgments about what’s relevant without reading deeply.
So when your message enters the Third Space,it has to work with how people actually think — not how we wish they did.
That means designing messages that are:
Emotionally anchored (for memory), and
Cognitively simple (for repetition).
So before you hit send, ask:“Will this survive the Third Space?”
✅ Clear enough to remember.✅ Visual enough to repeat.✅ Simple enough to survive retelling (without you in the room)
Your message has just a few seconds to:
earn attention,
anchor itself in memory,
Because if people can’t explain your message in their own words, they’ll either make something up or forget about you.
Create Messaging That Travels
Let’s say you’re marketing a data security platform.
Most B2B would write a message:
“Our unified, AI-powered platform provides end-to-end visibility and automated threat detection across your hybrid infrastructure.”
That sounds smart… until it’s forwarded. By the time it reaches the CFO, it’s re-told as:
“Something about AI security. Might be expensive.”
That's because everyone takes a bit of what they want and what they can remember.
Now imagine you’d written this instead:
“We help your team spot security risks before they turn into budget risks.”
That’s a line someone can repeat. It’s clear, self-contained, and emotionally anchored in what the CFO cares about — money and risk.
If your key point can be easily repeated, it can be easily remembered.
Build your message around one simple, sticky line — a phrase or benefit that can survive being re-said, re-summarised, and reinterpreted.
The C.A.S.S. Checklist
Here’s a simple checklist to help you audit your writing before it leaves your hands. Every word, sentence, or story should be designed to C.A.S.S.:
C — Carry Would someone actually want to repeat this out loud? If not, it’s too abstract or corporate.
A — Adapt Would it still make sense if it got cut in half? Messages should survive summarisation and paraphrasing.
S — Stick Could someone retell it after one read? That’s how you know it’s mentally “packaged” right.
S — Sign Would people know this came from us? Distinctiveness makes repetition traceable — it travels and points back to you.
Use the C.A.S.S. checklist to test your next message.
And that’s how you write for a busy audience.
Give them a message worth remembering and repeating, not just reading.
If your messaging is getting stuck, I can help you build one that creates movement.
🎯 Hi, I'm Vivien,
I work with Heads of Communications, CMOs, and B2B internal and external comms teams who desperately need messaging that:
Sticks
Travels accurately
Gets repeated and remembered
Ticks internal alignment
Creates momentum in buying committees
And moves decisions forward
