Mar
03
If there’s a single word we see associated more often than any other with the word blog, it’s conversation. Many serious bloggers firmly believe their companies need to “get on the Cluetrain,” and many have created blogs that are not only designed to invoke discussion, they are also almost exclusively written in a conversational style.
Engaging readers and inspiring them to get involved by commenting or linking is likely to be your goal. Having a clear, authentic, and approachable style is a great way to make that happen.
Authentic and Conversational
If you want to truly engage your readers, you’ll want to avoid the type of writing that has been the staple of corporate marketing and PR departments for years. The stilted “corpspeak” common to press releases and big business home pages will generally not be as well received by your readers as much as less formal copy with a more genuine voice.
A good reason to adopt a conversational approach is that it will likely help you and your organization create a stronger relationship with your readers. A human voice not only intuitively seems like a way to bond with your audience, there’s also concrete evidence backing up that assertion.
Conversational writing is not really the same as conversational speech. Writers still need to carefully craft what they write, and edit their copy thoroughly. The nature of conversational writing is really one of style. Conversational style is informal (avoids jargon and flowery language), inviting (friendly, prompts for feedback), transparent (candid, not promotional), direct (gets to the point), and engaging (invokes a sense of humor).
Compare “We discovered that the most prevalent cause of processor-based system failure involved read/write head engagement issues” to “Most computer breakdowns are caused by bad hard drives.” One is cumbersome and hard to interpret; the other is conversational, clear, and easy to understand.
Interesting and Expressive
One of the key reasons blogs became so popular in the early days had nothing to do with Google, RSS feeds, or any techie underpinnings. Both then and now, people read blogs because they express a personal experience. Blogs can provide an insider’s view, and that opens up a world not served by traditional journalism. This is the type of writing that readers seek out and embrace.
Expressive writers tap into their experiences and use anecdotes, humor, and emotion to make their personalities come alive in their writings. They take the time to use words that capture what they really feel, and avoid generalities. Was the evening merely “great” (yawn), or did it remind you of summer nights on the porch when you were a kid?
Brief and to the Point
Less is more. Long-winded posts are the hallmark of the amateur writer. Good bloggers strive for simplicity. Less copy not only makes it easier for your readers to understand your main points quickly and easily, but it also makes the job of writing easier.
Compare these two sentences:
- “Make sure you select blog software that contains community-oriented features that allow for a back-and-forth dialog between author and reader.”
- “Buy software that has commenting features.”
As you can see, careful pruning can make a big difference.
A good blogger is conversational, concise, and makes sure his or her writings convey a sense of who they are. If your personal writing style is something you are still trying to determine, checkout a recent post of mine, Find Your Blogging Voice for some useful tips on what approaches might best align with your personality.
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There has been some interesting stuff on this recently. Your note on ClueTrain (referring to the ClueTrain Manifesto) is quite valid. Michael Campbell recently pointed out a free PDF by Colin MacDougal, "Creating Conversations" where he talks about making the buzz. Of course, this all goes back earlier to Seth Godin - who utilizes his Squidoo lenses to help create that same buzz. (Helps that he has made some bestsellers to lend him credibility).
You are wanting to create a Web 2.0 buzz and get some people "sneezing" your viral campaign around - because that is what it is, a marketing campaign.
Hi Andy! Some sound advice in there.
However, while you say that good ‘bloggers avoid generalities, you go on to say: "Long-winded posts are the hallmark of the amateur writer."
I usually keep my articles below 900 words, but some — like todays, for example — drift into 1,300 plus because of the article topic and not because of my inexperience.
So that was a very sweeping generalization!
Wayne Smallman’s last blog post..Using Pownce and Twitter for Two Different Things « Oatmeal Stout - Justin Thorp’s Web 2.0 blog [del.icio.us]
Thanks for the comment Wayne. Yeah you are right, nicely spotted mate. So im a victim of my own advice on this one then.