Putting the boring voice on

How not to send your readers to sleep

Do you ever catch yourself doing this?

Someone asks you a question about something you’re really excited about. Might be how to grow tomatoes, run a marathon or make some jewellery. Something you know a decent amount about.

You think you’re going to share that excitement. But you find yourself undergoing a change. Your voice has gone monotone and you’re issuing a long list of instructions instead. It’s a weird thing to do but it happens under the pressure of having to explain instead of just enjoy.

Many of the people I work with have exactly the same issue when it comes to writing about their business for their website or brochure.

All that excitement and certainty get lost in a sea of stolid verbiage and clichés. Somehow they feel there’s a proper way to write that’s far removed from how they would normally talk.

Why do we do that? Why do we feel the need to write passionless copy?

Fear has a lot to do with it. Fear of looking unprofessional. Fear of looking different from our competitors. Fear that what we think is important isn’t actually of interest to the reader. Even fear of being ridiculed for poor writing.

Those could all be valid arguments.  

Let’s look at them.

Fear of looking unprofessional

This is all about talking to our readers in a tone that they recognise and understand. If we’re talking to an audience that needs absolute precision of facts, we have no choice but to work with that. But we should remember that we’re talking to real people who want to know why they should buy from us. 

And our business “personality” is a part of that.

Fear of looking different from our competitors

But how else are we going to stand out from the crowd? We need to prove our value. Not just in monetary terms but by displaying our credibility and confidence through language that will resonate with the reader. Without the clichés.

Fear of saying the wrong thing

We won’t do this if we always focus on what’s important to the reader. Who are our preferred customers? What drives them to make a purchase? What makes them trust a vendor? Keeping the answers in mind will help shape the way we write for them.

Fear of poor writing

Writing with little regard for grammar and spelling can deduct points for credibility with the section of your audience that cares about these things. Marketing and advertising copywriters do ignore the rules. But they know what the rules are and then ignore them. A bit like the great modern artists who learned and mastered the traditional methods first before experimenting. Getting someone else to proofread and edit our stuff is really important. That’s especially true for anyone who doesn’t trust their knowledge of language.

It’s a one-sided conversation

On websites, in brochures and in newsletters, we get to do all the talking without interruption. But we can imagine the responses and make sure we’re answering the questions as we write our marketing copy.

Forget the boring voice and just talk to your customers. It will make writing so much easier.