Be nice to your reader: put a picture of your mother next to your screen

When you’ve got something to sell, don’t talk like you’ve got something to sell.

That’s a small piece of advice that played an important part in one of my previous posts here at [BITS]. Your reader probably does not want you to sound ‘salesy’. Keep that in mind and try to make your content fun to read. At this point you might think “sure, but how?”.

Well, when talking to your reader, imagine you actually are talking to him or her. Dutch copywriter Aartjan (whose recently published book ‘Verleiden op internet’ is high on my wish list… Anyone feel like giving me a present?) has useful advice: put a picture of your mother next to your screen. Or at least write like you’re talking to your mother. This will help create a friendly tone, which will make your content sound natural and pleasant to the reader. By the way, is that a new sweater?

Another reason to write the way you talk is the fact that it helps your reader to remember what you are saying. When you read content that has a conversational vibe to it, subconsciously you will actually think you’re in a conversation. That requires more focus than just reading, see?

One way to stimulate this, is directly addressing your reader by using words like ‘you’. According to an article called Conversational writing kicks formal writing’s ass about research on this topic, it activates the brain, fosters comprehensibility, etcetera. Uh, I mean…

Further reading

BITS | Social media writing: 4 valuable tips
Schrijven voor internet | Doe niet zo deftig: schrijftaal vs. spreektaal
Creating Passionate Users | Conversational writing kicks formal writing’s ass