One of the most effective writing techniques for engaging people is to adopt a conversational writing style. People appreciate the human touch! It makes sense not to have to read dull, emotionless walls of text. Pithy, informal writing is often easier to read.
Increasingly, more of us are dipping in and out of the web on our phones. Going informal will have a significant impact. But how do you adopt such a tone or form? Is it as simple as writing as if you’re giving a speech? Unfortunately, it’s not, but here are some good ideas that you should use moving forward.
Is There an Easier Way of Saying Things?
Write a sentence and read it back. Does it sound like something you’d say in everyday conversation? Does it seem complicated or standoffish? Let’s start cutting a few words down to size or length.
When talking, we don’t all speak in sentences ream after ream. We take short pauses, and most of the time, we choose our words carefully! Think about and review the words you put on the page the same way.
Don’t Ask Too Many Questions
Conversations are two-way streets. You depend upon whoever you’re talking with to keep it going! Conversational writing is different, as it’s more like writing or delivering a speech.
Any questions you ask will be unanswered unless they are either a call to action at the end of a piece or rhetorical. Rhetorical questions, when used sparingly, can offer a great way to create a character and tell a story of sorts. What do you think? See what we did there? And there?
Inject Humour – But Don’t Overdo It
Humour is brilliant at helping with building rapport. We use it all the time in conversation and to protect our feelings. However, it makes sense to use it sparingly in writing, especially if you aim to put ideas across. If you’re going for a cheeky tone, use a joke or a witty way of speaking sparingly. Don’t turn every sentence into something from a stand-up comedy routine.
You will not only come off as immature or flippant about your subject area, but you may also be annoying. Your sense of humour may not work well with everyone! By all means, be humorous, but don’t let it rule your writing. That is unless you write comedy.
What Engages You?
This point may sound fairly well-used, but consider how you’d want to be engaged. Are you likely to respond to a flat text, long sentences and personality-free passages? Probably not.
Read some of your favourite books and articles and look for correlations. How do they adopt the conversational writing style? How do these texts speak to you in the way you need them to?
Don’t Go Off-Track with Conversational Writing
Our final point is the most important. Even the most cautious of writers tend to go off on tangents sometimes. It’s tempting to ramble on when you’re passionate about something, but at the same time, your readers are going to want you to make your point and move on, especially if you have promised them a lot.
The Conversational Writing Style is Fun!
Conversational writing is fun and easy to read. However, if you love the flow of your words too much, you may be tempted to ramble on and on and on. Here’s our advice – don’t!
We hope this writing style article had the answers you were looking for. If you require additional advice, please contact us, or read more of our educational writing resources and blog posts.
