5 tips for how to write like you’re having a conversation….rather than a presentation

The conversational tone is the hallmark of good copywriting, because it reads like somebody is talking to you….and that makes you engage, makes you trust, makes you a potential customer. 

You have to relax, write what you write. It sounds easy but it’s really, really hard. 

– Diana Setterfield

So, stop thinking so hard, and use these 5 tips, taken from around the web, to help with your conversational writing:

1. Tone: Imagine your ideal reader, and write in their voice

Writing to a crowd kills your voice.

Human beings are naturally compelled by stories. Stories appeal to personal emotions and engage sensory triggers. Turn your facts and figures into stories and you’ll notice a significant improvement in your time on site.

Example:

“Our company’s mission is to provide everyone in the world with healthy and nutritional fruit based breakfast that contains low-fat and low-sugar.”

Storytelling version:

“Our company’s mission is to bring the sweet tang of blueberries and the comforting warmth of a bowl of oatmeal to kitchen tables throughout the entire world”

2. Grammar: Use the active rather than the passive voice

Use the 1^st/3^rd person active as opposed to the 2^nd person passive voice; i.e. I/we rather than you

Passive sounds awkward & too formal:

“The place where you can get the best deal on your tires is Jacobs Automotive.”

Active sounds natural & conversational:

“Jacobs Automotive can give you the best deal on your tires.”

http://www.printwand.com/blog/15-tips-for-writing-in-a-conversational-tone

3. Grammar: Tear up the rules – write like you speak!

• Use contractions; e.g. they’ll, he’s, we’re
• Start sentences with ‘and’ and ‘but’
• End sentences with prepositions’ ; e.g.something you can be proud of
• Try to avoid ‘we’ and ‘our’ which are self-referring pronouns;

Example with ‘we’ and ‘our’

“Sign up to get on our list, and we’ll send you our weekly email with marketing tips.”

Example without ‘we’ and ‘our’:

“Grow your business with smarter marketing. Sign up now to get weekly emails with marketing tips.”

4. Simplify and fragment your vocabulary

When we speak, we don’t necessarily worry about sentence length or completeness. Add some sentence fragments to your copy to mimic natural conversation. For instance:

“Who wants to come home to a dirty house? No thanks! Call Sunny Maid Service Today!”

By using shorter, more colloquial words, along with questions, you can achieve a far more natural tone and make the reader pay attention.

http://www.enchantingmarketing.com/conversational-writing/

5.  Use shorter sentences & paragraphs

Create one-sentence paragraphs to stress specific statements and give readers room to breathe. A short silence in a conversation is okay, right?

Here’s a long academic sentence:

“Presenting yourself only as an expert makes you one-dimensional, but when you tell short stories about yourself in addition to sharing your knowledge, you become a multi-dimensional human being, and you become a more fascinating person in your reader’s eyes.”

Phew. Did you run out of breath? That’s forty words in one sentence.

Here’s the conversational version with only nine words per sentence on average:

Presenting yourself only as an expert makes you one-dimensional. Perhaps even a bit boring. But when you tell itty-bitty stories about yourself, your hobbies, and your life, you become a real human being. You become more fascinating.