The Benefits of a Conversational Writing Style

byJM80525

475 followers

7 years ago

I've noticed that many of my fellow WA denizens have a somewhat tense relationship with informal writing, or writing in a conversational tone. I'm here to tell you to relax. Kick your shoes off and have a chat with your reader as if you're catching up over coffee.

More quickly establish a rapport with the reader

People tend to warm up to a writer who communicates with a conversational writing style than they will to a stiff and formal approach. As counterintuitive as it seems, a more relaxed delivery radiates more of a vibe of credibility than an authoritatively formal delivery does.

I'm not saying you should be dropping F-bombs!

I mean, given the right audience, that kind of language might be appropriate, but not on a business website. You want to come across to your reader as a friendly and approachable person. Not an obnoxious and crude drunk.

It's okay to use contractions. Really, it is.

It's not commonly known among those who don't do a lot of writing, but the use of contractions makes your text look much more conversational. You know, don't instead of do not, won't instead of will not, or could've instead of could have.

Just don't go nuts with the apostrophe and use it to make a plural, like "I have a lot of book's". An apostrophe in that case makes the noun possessive. I'd want to ask the writer, "The book's what? Its pages? Its plot? What?!"

If you want to gain the reader's trust...

Conversational style is the way to go if you want to develop a modern reader's trust. Perceived stuffiness tends to turn off younger readers. And let's face it, we older fuddy-duddies are a dying breed. So if we want to develop an audience in a growing demographic rather than a dwindling one... you get the picture?

But there are lines that should not be crossed

Though I sing the praises of a conversational writing style, I am by no means advocating letting atrocious spelling and grammar skills slide, or writing in textspeak. In fact, it pains me to admit that textspeak exists at all. But such is the fresh hell we live in these days.

Spelling and grammar checkers, like Grammarly (No, it's not an affiliate link :-) ) are abundant but all too rarely used, in my not-so-humble opinion. In any business environment, such as an affiliate marketing website, poor spelling and grammar skills are frowned upon. A significant slice of your audience will spot glaring errors such as "could of" and the mangling of there/their/they're or your/you're, among many others, reducing the writer's credibility.

I promise you, talking to your reader like you're having a chat over a beer or glass of wine works wonders.

May SEO bless us all!

Joe