Successful Blog

121: How Do You Write Compelling Conversational Copy?

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Please Talk to Me!

Dawud, I listen to you talk about your friendship with Adam and I hear the respect you have for him and the work he does. So I know that when you say you helped him, you did more than just give him pointers. You showed up with all you are. I hear it in how you tell the story.

Then you ask me (and the folks reading)

What tips can you offer for writing quality, conversational blog posts and website copy?

Did you know that writing conversationally gets brains to tune in more closely than writing formally? It’s true. Our brains know that in conversation sooner or later they are expected to have a response or an answer. So even if what we’re reading isn’t something that is our favorite subject, we pay more attention when the writer writes in a style that is more like conversation.

The most conversational word form is a contraction. If I did not use contractions, my writing would begin to sound stilted and jerky. People do not avoid contractions when we talk. I will not be avoiding them after I finish this sentence.

Great grammar and good spelling are, of course, important too. Yet, they only make for technical quality. For truly compelling, you have to put yourself into what you’re writing. Here’s how to do that.

  1. Write a clear message first. Let the words come from your mind through your fingers, don’t stop them in your brain on the way out. You can edit them later. Get the message out first.

  2. Write with authenticity. Use your real voice. Use the voice that you think with, not the voice that you talk with. The voice that you think with is closer to your heart.

  3. Tell your own truth, exactly as you know it. Do second guess what other folks might think of it. Trying to read the minds of your readers will only dilute and unravel the power of what you’re saying. Readers who come in good faith will be able to find the place where your experience meets with their own. People are more alike than different. The genuine truth of any story resonates with humanity.

  4. Write for one reader who is a lot like you, but who hasn’t heard your story. Talk to that reader the way you would talk to a person you respect and value. Share your information with sincerity and transparency.

  5. Read aloud what you write. Listen to how it sounds. Change out any words that don’t sound like you. You know your voice and the words that you use. Keep reading it aloud until it sounds exactly like you might have said it — only better.

It’s not the most important thing to have every comma and period perfect. What makes compelling conversation is a truly interested writer who’s engaged and curious. Show up every thought and every word as important to you because someone you care about is going to read it. Your readers will know that you did.

It shows. No one can hide how much you cared or didn’t. Caring is compelling.

I leave you with this question for next week.

When you go around the Internet, what mistake do you see most often?

If you’re reading this, I’d love to hear your answer in the comment box below.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

One2One is a cross-blog conversation. Find the answer at dawud miracle on Monday. You can see the entire One-2-One Conversation series on the Successful Series page.
In Case You Missed It: Writing 06-13-07

20 Outstanding Links to Answer "What Do You Do?"

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That Intriguing Answer

insideout logo

Answering the simple question “What do you do?” can be stressful. If we’re not prepared we can offer all of the wrong details of our lives. Actually sometimes, we can offer our entire lives in total.

If instead we know who we are and what we’re about, we have our information sorted and internalized. We can answer the question with confidence in such a way that folks will ask us to elaborate on what we do and why.

I wrote about how to prepare your own answer in

To fill out the information, I researched what other folks are saying on related topics, especially the famous “elevator pitch.” Here’s the best I found from around the blogosphere. They are 20 links to add to the article I wrote yesterday.

  1. 5 tips for creating an ‘elevator pitch’

  2. Sixty Seconds With…You (The Personal Elevator Pitch)

  3. The Elevator Pitch

  4. How to Craft a Killer Elevator Pitch That Will Land You Big Business Pitch

  5. Elevator Pitch Goes Internet

  6. Elevator Pitch: YOUR TV Show Opening Narration

  7. With The Elevator Pitch, Finding Beauty in Simplicity is Key

  8. Is An Elevator Pitch Really That Important?

  9. Get your “elevator pitch” ready!

  10. Improve Your Elevator Pitch to Raise Startup Capital

  11. Helpful Hints For A Successful Elevator Pitch

  12. Networking and the 30 Second Elevator Pitch By Josh Hinds

  13. Everyone needs an elevator pitch

  14. In 30 seconds or less what is your elevator pitch?

  15. The 30 Second Motto Elevator Pitch

  16. Elevator Pitch – How to talk about your Business?

  17. The Perfect (Elevator) Pitch

  18. Complacency Is For The Dogs


  19. Captivation Promotes Creation

  20. Difference between an Elevator Pitch and an Elevator Story

Remember that an elevator pitch is more appropriate for a product or an idea. The “What do you do?” question is a chance to open a conversation.

Use these as you find them useful. Then tell me. What you do?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you’d like Liz to help you find your strategy, click on the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

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3.2: Three Steps to a Killer Tagline that Customers Pass On
Strategy: 40 Outstanding Blog Links, Bookmark Carefully!
20 Blog Promotion Guides to Inform Your Strategy
Strategy: How to Get Maximum Benefit from Complex Link Lists
The 5-Point Strategy to a Powerful Network

Personal Identity: Trust

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Can we talk about . . .

trust.

My father used to say, “Trust nobody.”

I would answer, “Daddy, that would mean I couldn’t trust you.”

His reply would be. “Yes, I know.”

I knew that wasn’t true. Still I could trust him, and I could trust what he said too.

playing-with-daddy

The irony of the conversation of my dad with his little girl is that trust isn’t found in words. Trust is a way of living. It’s written in who we are.

My father was right. He taught me that no one can tell of trust. One has to live it, give it, and aspire to be trustworthy. Trust is character.

I hear us talking about trust. I heard you say it just this week. trust We talk about who we trust, whether we can trust, the need for transparency to trust each other.

When the world got crowded did our trust get crowded out of it?

Every small child is trustworthy. I trust in humanity.

Trust. I have plenty.

I have plenty because without it . . .

I can’t smile or write. I can’t be brave or vulnerable.

Take my trust. Take all you need.

Because without it . . . I can’t breathe.

How do you find the trust you need?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

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Change the World: Truth and Humility
Personal Identity: What Is Humility?

The 5 Hats of Graphic Designers

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Guest Writer: David Airey

Before computers entered the mix, the production of print material was firmly in the hands of graphic designers and printers. It took a very clued-in client to have any idea about the print-production process. Therefore, people were mentally prepared to pay substantial amounts for their logo designs, brochures and annual reports.

That was then. Now, however, things are very different.

Ask most people how they would design a logo or prepare a newsletter and they’d automatically point to the computer, placing their faith in software packages to do the job.

So if a novice can work their way around a photo manipulation or page layout program, why do designers still charge large figures for their services?

five-hats-of-graphic-designers

Today’s designer must wear many hats, and I’ll talk about some of them here.

The problem solving hat

Designers are presented with a problem, and it’s their task to find a solution. The problem could be to set a business apart from its competition by using an effective logo design, or to increase product sales with a cleverly designed advertising campaign. Whatever the initial brief, there’s a clearly defined problem and the designer puts on their thinking hat.

The teaching hat

By educating clients, customer-satisfaction is improved and the designer is more likely to be called upon in the future. What might a designer teach? File preparation is an important part of the print production process, and a lot of my time is spent educating clients about file types. You’d be surprised just how many of my clients don’t understand that a thumbnail image off a website can’t be used for a full-size A3 poster. This provides a little more info.

The graphic designer hat

This is actually just one function of a modern-day designer. Ask any self-employed designer just how much time they spend designing and you’ll probably be surprised at the answer. I can’t say for sure how long I spend actually designing, but I think it’s between 25% to 40%.

The salesperson hat

Whether it be attracting new clients or selling an idea, graphic designers need to have enough confidence in their own ability to persuade a client that they’re making the right decision. Every design pitch must be treated like a sale. When meeting people for the first time, I make sure to focus at least my first three questions on topics not related to business. It’s much easier to develop a relationship with a person than it is a business, so don’t be pushy.

The manager hat

Accounting is a vital aspect of my business operations, and I’ve not yet reached the stage where I need to outsource, or take on an extra employee. I process my own tax returns once every year, and calculate my VAT returns every three months. This needs the manager hat, taking a step back from the creative side of work and focusing on the numbers. Time management and project management are also encompassed by this hat.

To summarize

Whilst it’s clear that the role of graphic designers has changed, it still remains an extremely creative industry. Of course, designers aren’t the only ones who must wear different hats in their profession.

What’s your line of work and how many different hats do you wear?

—David Airey

Thanks, David, for this grand explanation of what the folks in your profession do!
Come back again to tell us more, anytime.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Coffee in the Morning Wherever I Go

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Jan and Joanna Inspired Me!

How could I not enjoy getting to work in the morning? Each day when I open the doors to this little blog, I find wonderful minds here to share conversation and coffee. Listen in to one conversation that happen on a day I was traveling, a short two weeks ago.

We talked about the in-between times, the life that happens that is not a big event. Juggling Frogs, offered congratulations on my son’s graduation. Karin H. revealed the news of a quadruple birthday party. Lodewijkvdb pointed with wonder at how human beings have the power to relive the past in our minds. Robert said, ” the best ideas come from, the ones that have nothing to do with work, but with life.” Gary returned to add that we often forget to enjoy the part in between big events. zakman pointed out that with understanding the inbetweens of hard times, we might also find solace. Mike observed that we spend time at big events talking about the inbetweens. GP offered one of her timely quotes that leave me thinking for days

My mind is filled up every morning with such learning. Who else gets to spend coffee with such incredible people every mroning? Even more incredible I am totally able to take my morning coffee friends with me wherever I go.

Thank you all for the life’s breath you give me every morning.

What morning rituals are a part of your blog?

[inspired by Joanna’s thematic links]
Click the thematic links logo above
to find out how to take the challenge
to write a thematic links post of your own.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

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Change the World: Shaping the World in Little Ways

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Hey, Jon, How Can We Change the World?

changetheworld8

Jon Swanson and I met not long ago. It was shortly after I had started reading his blog. We haven’t talked on the phone. We’ve merely passed messages like two kids in school. Still I think that because we share a certain mutual friend and because I’ve read what he wrote I know him some what.

I wasn’t surprised when an email with Jon’s post for the Change the World series. I share it now with you.

Shaping the World in Little Ways

Guest Writer: Jon Swanson

People tell me all the time that they want to make their lives matter, that they want to do something significant, that they want to change the world.

All the time? Isn’t that an exaggeration?

Not really. I’m a dad and a husband and a friend and a pastor and a listener. Most of my conversations somehow involve people who aren’t happy with something about their situation, or something about their life or something about their job or something about the furniture or …..

But you said that people were wanting to change the world. You are talking about complaining, aren’t you?

Not really. I have this funny notion that people are connected to each other, that what happens to one person can change someone else.

Yeah, that’s the “butterfly wing” effect, right? A small action somewhere changes something in the other part of the universe. That’s so cliche.

I know. It’s silly. Of course, if I started describing the yellow swallowtail I see in the backyard right now, while sitting in the old rocking chair that my grandfather sat in, and Susan Reynolds thought about it and decided to paint that butterfly, and then put the cards on her website, where Becky McCray ordered some to send a thank you to Jim Long for painting pictures with his words and images, which made Jim particularly motivated in his camera work so that he shot a visual meditation on yellow swallowtails which was edited into the closing credits sequence at the end of the network news someday so that 2-3 million people watching were less cranky about the world when they sat down for supper and encouraged their kids instead of scolding them so that they did well on their tests the next day and school performance, just for a day, improved–would that be cliche?

Well yes. But it would be a good way to show some link love. And what the world needs now is love, link love.

That’s pretty cliche, too.

I know.

Here’s the point. To talk about deciding to change the world ignores the fact that we already are. Our existence, our interactions, our writing, our time, our love, our hate–all of these things are shaping the world in small ways. The question is not whether you are ready to change your world. The question is whether you like the way you are already changing it. And whether you are willing to be part of helping other people change the world. too.

Even if the action is as simple as writing a post.

Like this.

—Jon Swanson
_______
Thanks, Jon, for showing us how we are changing the world in the “ittle ways” that count.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss