Have you ever noticed the underlying principle that makes some blog posts spread like wildfire? It’s not always the research or lengthy content but the conversational tone that makes your readers feel good.
The era has come when you are supposed to write even the technical manuals and guides in a simple and conversational manner. By doing so, you can generate content which is more appealing and engaging for your readers.
If you are eager to start writing conversationally, you do not require pursuing stiff rules and regulations. Just be yourself!
In order to write in conversational style, here are some tips that will definitely help you out:
1. Take Inspiration from Other Posts
Look for other writers who know the art of conversational writing. Profoundly study their methodology and get inspiration from the words and phrases they make use of. Finding such examples is not difficult since most of the eminent bloggers as well as novelists make use of conversational style in all their publications. For instance, in SEO niche there a few bloggers I personally admire a lot due to their amazing style of writing. Neil Patel, Moosa Hemani, Kumail Hemani, Ann Smarty are a few notable bloggers who write in such a conversational manner that you just can’t stop reading their stories.
2. Listen to Others & Yourself Speak
If you pay attention to how others converse, you will be able to judge the common words and phrases which are in trend. This will help you adopt the same tone and phrases in your writing to make it look friendly and appealing to average people. You should even listen to yourself while you are talking to others (although this seems a bit difficult) but you gotta do it in order to be natural in your writing.
3. Speak Straight to the Reader
Many writers prefer writing in third person, which is not a bad idea however if you address the readers directly, you will be able to get their true attention and interest. Speaking one-on-one with your readers will convey your message more efficiently. The best style is to write as if you are talking to your best friend because such conversations are far from all kinds of formalities.
4. Wipe Out Stiff Rules & Regulations
Be a natural author and forget about the rules & regulations. Write informal but correct language while not strictly limiting your writing to grammar and sentence structure. The punctuation marks do play a vital role so do not eradicate them. However, wiping out rules & regulations does not mean that you write with slangs. Your writing style should be simple and comprehensible without breaking major grammatical rules.
Pro tip: Use http://www.grammarly.com for automated proofreading and correct your mistakes.
5. Read It Out Loud When Done
After having finished writing a sentence, a paragraph or the whole post, do not forget to read it out loud to check how it sounds. You can best judge the quality of writing when you hear it being narrated verbally. Whether you’re writing sounds over formal or unappealing, change its tone and make it pleasant to listen to.
6. Avoid Rambling
The dominant posts are the result of short and precise contents. Rambling not only confuses readers but also irritates them away from your writings. An excess of words will never help you win a reader’s heart. The point is to be smooth and informal, not verbose, abrupt or aggressive.
Use these tips to engage people with your writings! Feel free to share the practices you follow to engage people with your content in comments section below.
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Nabeel Butt
Latest posts by Nabeel Butt (see all)
- 6 Tips for Healthy Conversational Writing - June 18, 2014
9 Comments. Leave new
A good read but I think the writer can make it more simple. Using synonyms is good but one should take care of how frequently you are using the option. As there are many words with the similar meanings but different context. For example “eradicate” is mainly used when we are talking about some thing like poverty, disease etc. The concept of the post is good but the tone somehow differs what writer is trying to communicate.Rest it is a good effort, much appreciated. Cheers!
Thank you for your feedback, Ammar. I’m sure Nabeel appreciates it (I’ll let him weigh in, though!).
Thanks Ammar for your valuable words! I appreciate you taking time to write something insightful on my story.
Amazing points, Nabeel! Storytelling style always worked well for me.
I would like to add, putting pictures/memes/video in the article is another way to get the better response from readers. This not only justifies the conversation but also engage the audience till the end.
p.s. Highly appreciate the mention mate 🙂
Thanks for commenting, Kumail! I like the points you added about visuals – very important for connection. I’ll let Nabeel add his .2 cents as well … 🙂
I would highly agree with that point Kumail. I believe it is time to think of user engagement as a priority rather than thinking of bots/crawlers. And Memes/Gifs are definitely far more engaging than any other form of content! That’s why we see Buzzfeed getting considerable exposure even when facebook changed its algorithms to lessen MEMEs exposure.
Good point and I’d like to thank you for giving it a read 🙂
I really like this advice. It’s a breath of fresh air in the latest trend of finding that longer posts are the most shared ones because they offer more value.
Love the tip about reading the post out loud. It’s an easy resource to proofread. Liked your guest blogger Brooke!
Thank you Veronica!
Appreciated 🙂
Nabeel shared some wonderful tips, Veronica! I’m glad his wisdom resonated with you. 🙂