Write the way you speak — with directness, warmth, and authenticity

As a PR consultant, I spend time nearly every day writing or revising the writing of others. I love writing content and narrative that readers can enjoy and care about –communication that shows the human side of business and reveals the extraordinary strengths and talents of people. I want my writing to be clear, appealing, and significant to my audience.

One of the fundamentals of good writing is to write similarly to the way you  speak. Casual speech is more spontaneous and requires less organization than written content, of course. But good writing borrows the directness, warmth, authenticity, and cadence of human speech.

Remember your audience

When you speak, you’re naturally aware of whom you’re speaking to. Remain aware of your audience when writing, as well. If your writing is not targeted and framed in a way that will engage your audience, you may as well not write.  

Use appealing sentence structure

When you speak, you typically employ understandable phrases and sentences, some longer and some shorter. Such directness and good cadence in your writing result in communication that is animated and interesting. Long, formal sentences and complicated phrasing can be cumbersome and impersonal.

Choose language that’s meaningful, not pretentious

“Use simple words” is a tip I notice often in blog posts about effective writing. When it comes to language, and specifically word choice, I’m not one to advise using the smallest common denominator. As in speech, we should avoid big words, industry jargon, and indecipherable acronyms just for the sake of sounding superior or mysterious. But shades of meaning and nuance are a priority over simplicity any day, because they help convey your true voice. Beyond merely “crafting” to influence someone, word choice is integral to the richness, unique appeal, and authenticity of your writing — and the thought leadership and personality your writing represents.

To exclaim or not to exclaim

As in speech, there’s no need to yell. Banish gimmicks like excessive use of exclamation points, all caps, and other forms of extreme demand for attention, because it doesn’t take much to become off-putting or suggest a lack of professionalism. Using bold fonts and subheads is a strength when it makes the organization more clear or helps the reader scan through the copy. Because, after all, your reader has many time demands and is paying you a compliment just by taking the time to read the words you’ve lovingly strung together.

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