Write Like You Speak

By Stacy Karacostas

Do you enjoy reading textbooks?

How about software manuals, annual reports or thesis statements?

When you sit down in your favorite chair after a hard day at the office, do you pull out a copy of your spouse’s term paper from Psychology 101?

If you’re like most folks, probably not—unless of course you’re suffering from insomnia, in which case any of these would make an excellent sleep aid.

I honestly can’t remember if I’ve ever picked up a manual or report and felt drawn along by the writer. Usually I plod through by shear force of will because I know that somewhere, buried in all that dry, boring text, is the nugget of information I’ve been seeking.

But unless I know for sure that I’m going to get something I want or need out of it, you’d have to pay me a boatload of money to get me to read stuff like that (and I’m an avowed readaholic who will browse the back of aerosol can if it’s sitting in front of me).

So what happens when you use this kind of writing in your marketing or advertising?

Absolutely nothing.

Why? Because it simply doesn’t get read.

This is a serious problem since the goal of copywriting (writing for marketing and advertising) is to make people take notice, take action, and in the end, buy something.

Unfortunately, the dull, dry style of writing most of us learned, and practiced, for years in school simply isn’t going to do the trick.

So what do you do? Learn to write like you speak.

And it doesn’t matter if you’re a lawyer, a doctor or a pest exterminator. The same rule still holds true.

Of course, you might have to change your vocabulary a bit depending on the audience (after all, computer programmers use different lingo than pet owners). But anything you write—whether you are selling to businesses or consumers—needs to sound like a real person is speaking.

And that’s not just my personal opinion. Years of testing by the top copywriters and advertisers in the world has proven that writing in a casual voice gets better results every time.

Let me show you a quick example of what I’m talking about…

One of my clients came to me with a one-page flier advertising an upcoming event (I’ll call it XXXXXXX for the sake of anonymity). The event was designed to help people network more effectively.

Here’s the body text:

"Organizations, in an effort to achieve overall business success, are coming together more and more to create synergistic strategic partnerships. (XXXXXXX) has been developed in order to identify, for and with, individuals and organizations that make natural referral partners and to more efficiently define each individual organization’s vision, resources, processes, and strategies leading to a more effective partnership within the strategic partnership group. Intrinsic…is the belief that when fostered and connected, authentic relationships that support an individual’s or an organization’s goals will enhance the likelihood that dreams and goals are achieved."

Whew! I swear I just had a flashback to my Economics of Recreation class. And this is just a small sampling of the writing that was crammed onto one page.

Now here’s a taste of what I wrote instead…

"Did you know that referral leads close 50-80% of the time?

Even if you are unable to ask for business directly or you cannot pay for leads, you can increase your client base through referrals.

How do you create a quality referral network?

With XXXXXXXs

These are not your typical networking events. XXXXXXXs give you plenty of time to share your thoughts, ideas and dreams and really get to know other professionals. Why? Because it’s hard to recommend someone you’ve barely met."

There was a bit more to it, but I’m sure you can see the difference. Writing like this is engaging. And it is easy to read and understand because it sounds just like a normal person speaking.

The result? More sales!

Ready to start writing like you speak?

Try using these nifty tricks to make your words come to life…

• Get rid of 50-cent words. A good rule of thumb is to find and replace any words that are more than two syllables with one or two shorter words. So “better” is better than “preferable”. If you’re struggling here, grab a thesaurus.

• Read your writing out loud, or better yet, have a friend or spouse read it to you. If it doesn’t sound like someone having a casual conversation, it needs work.

• Studies have shown that the average American reads effectively at about a sixth-grade level (sad but true). Which means one of the best tests of your writing is to have a kid around the age of ten or twelve read it to out loud.

Any word they stumble on needs to be changed. And if they don’t understand what you are trying to say, then find out where you lost them and rewrite until they do.

©2002-2006 Success Stream. All Rights Reserved. www.success-stream.com

If you enjoyed this article, don't forget to sign up for Bright Ideas.

Do you have a marketing, advertising or writing question you'd like to have answered? Email me and you might see the answer in a future edition of Bright Ideas.

Please notify me at stacy@success-stream.com when my article is used, whether online or off. Thanks!