How times have changed. Most of us have memories of the “proper” way to write, the words we should use, the grammar, the punctuation, the right tone and many more “rights” that will send a shiver down the spine of anyone who suffered through English classes in school. And of course there are those people who still like to live back in English 101. I used to have a client who was a company Chairman who would mark my Media Releases with a score out of ten and put comments, in red writing, all over them with an accompanying happy or sad face. Given his choice, the world would still be speaking in Elizabethan. Alas, he is gone from my world…..
Interestingly though we are actually writing much more today than most of us have in the past. We send a lot more emails, there are more reports to be written, we are blogging, tweeting (yes that is a form of writing for those naysayers) and even texting. But with all of these words going around are we really connecting and engaging with our customers or colleagues?
Think about how many letters or emails you get and how many of them grab your attention, or even more importantly prompt you to take action? From my experience the answer is not many.
The world has changed. The formal nature of writing, particularly in the business environment, is long gone. The real key is engaging and connecting with people. In other words, we need to be able to write the way we speak. This sounds pretty easy, but it is in fact a lot harder than most of us realise.
Now I certainly can’t claim to be an English Professor but over the years I have written a fair bit of material that had to get read in order to pay the bills. This teaches you a thing or two about writing and connecting, and probably the biggest lesson I have learnt is that the language we use is constantly evolving. We need to evolve with it otherwise we will be writing a lot, but not getting through to people, a diabolical waste of everyone’s time.
So if you are finding that you are spending more time writing articles, blogs, proposals, brochures, website content and so on, here are my top ten tips for becoming better at engaging and connecting with your readers –
10 WAYS TO GET PEOPLE TO TAKE NOTICE OF WHAT YOU ARE WRITING
You need to think long and hard about headings on all correspondence (or subject lines in emails). It is just like the heading on an advertisement, if you don’t get the readers attention straight away, you will lose them.
Don’t mark all of your emails as URGENT. Just like the boy who cried wolf, people will be desensitised to your emails if they are all urgent, and one day if one of them is actually urgent, odds are that it will be ignored). In the same way don’t try to catch someone’s attention with a phony heading like “FREE SEX – now that I have your attention. People feel duped and we don’t like people who dupe us.
Keep your language simple, don’t get too flowery with the long list of flowing adjectives when trying to describe something. One of the greatest writing mistakes is over use of adjectives, when it comes to writing for business, get to the point as quickly as you can.
If you are wondering if a sentence is too long then it is.
Write more in the first person – I, me, we, you, us etc.
Write to suit your reader – don’t just make a one size fits all. If you reader or readers are young, write in a younger way. If they are the other end of the calendar, by all means be a little more formal, but always write to engage and connect.
Use stories and anecdotes – people remember this and like to read about them.
Avoid waffle. Always be looking for ways to get your message across in as few words as possible. We are all way too busy and time deprived to read long-winded waffly correspondence.
Never write important pieces when you are tired, distracted, grumpy, hungry, over caffeinated, under caffeinated or simply not interested. To write impacting and insightful communication we all need to be in the right state of mind.
Have a really clear and simple call to action. If you want people to do something as a result of your correspondence, tell them what you want. Don’t assume that they will get it from what you have written. Spell it out, keep it simple and thank them in advance for doing it.
OK, well I hope this has helped. What is my call to action from here? Keep reading the information below about my up and coming events, please get involved in Pay if Forward Day by doing something nice for someone and don’t let the Grammar Nazi’s of the word tell you how to write in an engaging way.
Until next week,
Andrew
ENTREPRENEURS IN PARADISE
People have started to book into the Entrepreneurs in Paradise event on Green Island in June and we are about half way there. This is going to be a great couple of days and I am sure it will have a dramatic impact on the way you do business. To find out more or to book in please go to the Entrepreneurs in Paradise website – CLICK HERE.
PROFESSIONAL PRESENTERS BOOTCAMP
We only have a few spaces left for the next Professional Presenters Bootcamp on June 9th, so if this is on your list of things to do this year, get in soon as we limit numbers on this full day workshop. CLICK HERE. I have also just posted a short video on my blog about the Bootcamp – check it out if you get a moment – AG VIDEO.
PAY IT FORWARD DAY
I’d like to invite you to be involved in this years International Pay it Forward Day (28th April) – just a couple of days away. The day has inspired over 250,000 random acts of kindness in 28 countries, with 16 state and city proclamations. It has featured on channels 7, 9, 10, ABC, NBC, Fox 5, CBS, Fox 8 as well as numerous print and radio media. Hundreds of schools, universities and businesses have been involved and last year 400 people per minute on facebook at one stage were signing up to get involved. It is making a big difference throughout the world and our goal is to inspire upwards of 3 million acts of kindness this year 🙂
It would be awesome if you could help spread the word – Facebook seems the easiest way to share a link 🙂
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