Write like a reader – there’s no other way

Other people are just like you. Why did you think they’d be any different?

The conventional wisdom says that you should write like you speak. And it’s true – you should. As long as you don’t ramble, repeat yourself (at least not too much) or get to0 informal, slangy or inappropriate. The idea is simple. If you write like you speak, then you connect with your readers. Your language is conversational, direct and free from those tortured turns of phrase and formal constructions associated with written English. So even in print, you appear relaxed, friendly and approachable. And because people do business with people they like, they’ll do business with you. Your corporate personality will chime with your personal personality (still with me?). And that’s a good thing. But you can take it even further.

Read and destroy

“I’m such an impatient reader,” said a marketing chum of mine recently. “And there’s so much to read. The trouble is, I don’t know how to skim.” I do. It’s one of the innumerable skills I picked up – well skimmed, really – when I was writing about speed reading for a client some years back. One of the most effective tips I took away was almost too simple to be true – yet it was. Read the first sentence of each paragraph. Easy, isn’t it? The trouble is, you know this (well you do now) but your customers don’t. So if you present them with acres of dense, unbroken text, you’ll scare them off. They’ll make a snap decision – to go elsewhere. Because they, just like you, are impatient readers. They’ve got emails, tweets, blog posts, PDFs, hard-copy documents, RSS feeds and a whole lot else besides to read. In short, they’re just like you. They read like you.They skim like you. They delete like you (often before reading – it feels so good, doesn’t it?).

Don’t be yourself (be them)

So what’s the answer? It’s simple really. Whenever you write, ask yourself ‘If somebody else wrote this, would I read it? Is it too long? Would I have the patience to stick with it right to the end?’ Chances are, you’d say no. So why do you think your readers are any different? They’re not. So here’s what you should do:

Use frequent headings to break up your copy.
Keep your paragraphs short.
Use bold and italic (and if you’re really daring, both at the same time) to emphasise points.
Visually separate important sections (in a box, a table or other graphical device).
Summarise your offering for the impatient (most of us) with a link or branch-off mechanism for the detail-hungry (an important minority).
Get to the point fast – preferably in the first couple of paragraphs.
Make it easy to skim: lead the eye through your copy.
Vary the length of your sentences, so your writing doesn’t become monotonous.
Include frequent calls to action, so people know what to do next.
Repeat yourself. Repetition is comforting, affirming and convincing.
Tell a story, so your writing is structured and follows a logical patten.
End on a high point (call to action, special offer, a promise, a claim, a strong & confident statement) so your copy doesn’t fizzle out.

Be brutal with yourself. Just because you wrote it doesn’t mean they’ll read it. Think like a reader. Plan like a reader. Then, write like a reader. Because there’s no other way.

Kevin Writing.