There’s nothing more dull than stiff, formal language, long, complicated sentences, and copy that’s thick with words that add no value.
While those who adopt this heavy-duty style think it makes their writing weighty, it has the opposite effect: convoluted language tries to sound impressive but delivers little; it’s almost always vague, light on substance, heavy in obfuscation!
It certainly doesn’t impress the reader who is left bewailing “What does this even mean?” And if you’re not writing for the reader, who are you writing for?
How to take the boring out
Start by writing in plain English
Start by writing in plain English. Use everyday language and adopt a conversational tone. Write short and straightforward sentences. Some companies worry about sounding simple, but this is never an issue.
Clients will be impressed by how clearly you can communicate your service or offering, not by its complexity. They are more likely to want to do business with you if they perceive you as honest and transparent. Plain English also reads better; it’s clean and elegant.
People are at the heart of your business
Remember that people are at the heart of your business. Therefore, whatever your business activity, you can bring your brand to life by tapping into human interest stories.
Consider including stories or anecdotes about staff members or customers (with their permission), case studies, quotes and testimonials. Use quoted speech to bring a flavour of the individual into the text; this will lift the writing considerably and make the story much more engaging.
You can also add topical references or bring industry news into your content. After all, you don’t operate in a vacuum and understanding how one thing affects another is interesting for clients and prospects.
Add colour to brighten up your writing
While you can add colour in your tone and style of writing, you can also be more literal and include colourful photographs, diagrams and other graphics. Images break up the text, are easy on the eye and, as we all know, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words!
Keep these tips in mind and you’ll do your business justice by producing dynamic, engaging content.