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Somebody once told me that I write like I speak.
I took it to be a compliment. Then again it could have meant that my writing rambles with a vaguely Irishy-type accent or that I somehow make audible semicolon noises when I speak.
In a recent post on Copyblogger, Dave Taylor wrote a great piece about writing with a distinctive voice – which naturally raises the question:
Does your written content sound like you?
Imagine that you’re talking about your business with a business acquaintance – what would the conversation sound like, what sort of tone would you use? Now read your website copy or sales brochure aloud. Does it sound the same? Probably not.
Chances are there’s a lack of personality. It’s too corporate.
Dave puts it down to 5th grade teachers and college textbooks but I’m a little more inclined to blame the world of business. Business writing is boring. Business writing is overly corporate. Business writing is like the kid at school trying just a little too hard to impress.
Marketing writing is no better. In fact, it’s probably worse. It’s all ’striving to put the customer at the heart of our business’ and ‘delivering on best practice models’. Who talks like that? Actually, don’t tell me.
Of course you want your copy to sound professional and things like basic grammar and spelling are important – but does it really have to be dull, cold or simply silly?
So, a quick reality / sanity check is in order. Grab some of your written materials, read them aloud and then ask yourself whether or not you’d spend five minutes listening to someone talking like that.
Or is your writing more like that annoyingly nasal guy you always get cornered by at networking events?
If it is, change it.
{ 3 comments }
I guess it’s better than learning to speak like you write, right?
Thanks for the kudos.
I was merely thinking about you and your style of writing and speaking last week when trying to explain to someone about writing a good letter, ie forget the waffle and sit down and think about what you would tell them face to face … Its quite scary that you pop in to my mind when I want to write a good article or sales ish style letter!! Thanks Mark!
@ Dave Taylor – No problems, it was a great read.
@ Gill – Thanks Gill, I couldn’t agree more – marketing is only ever a proxy for what you would do face-to-face, if you wouldn’t say it in person, why say it in print?
Anytime you need anything … Hope family and business are good.
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