Speak to me!

– Why you should write like you talk (but clearly)

Write more like you talk and your written communications will be the better for it. That’s good advice for just about every type of writing – from business to creative.

But there are caveats. During the lockdown, many of us will have heard (and uttered) ‘misspokes’ a-plenty on Zoom. And expert communicators have flagged up these pitfalls of speech for us. (To give two examples: Noah Zandan of Quantified Communications in a recent podcast and earlier article in Harvard Business Review, and Superstar Communicator Susan Heaton-Wright in a Bite-size Learning presentation for LinkedIn tutors Walker-Marshall.)

It’s easy to carry these clangers over into our writing too. But before considering them, why in the first place, do I often advise clients to write more like they talk?

Well, it’s a common trait that people stiffen up when tasked with writing for an audience (just as many of us do when speaking to a group). Words and sentences get longer… Language too formal or technical… Tone of voice flat or inconsistent… Fluency stilted.

But if you try, as the writer, to imagine you’re talking to a customer face-to-face, this can help you: Use plainer language. Be more direct. Put more personality into your writing. Be more personable and engaging.

I’m reminded of useful advice I followed as a journalist. Where to begin when you have a complex news story to tell? Think what you’d first say if telling a colleague or friend. That way you’ll get to the nub of the matter quicker – a way in to the centre of the story, rather than going round the houses.

Just as an experienced speaker turns as if addressing different individuals in their audience, that single-person focus can also help you engage by writing with more feeling and empathy. (It’s also why marketers develop customer personas when targeting their content.)

Speaking & writing parallels

So what are the most important parallels between speaking and writing effectively, or otherwise?

• Knowing your audience so you speak to their needs is common to both.

• Storytelling too, both in the structure of the piece you’re writing, and the use of anecdote and real-life examples.

• Your voice: As with speaking, your written voice can project personality, confidence and passion. Tone of voice in writing stems from the words you choose, which should reflect your and your organisation’s values. And this voice should be consistent, but not completely monotone (see next).

• Tonal variety: An effective speaker holds your attention with the rise and fall of their voice, emphasis, and body language – as well as words. In writing, it’s mainly about the word choice, but syntax (the structure of your writing) plays an important part too.

MIX IT UP

There are various ways to inject variety and keep your reader interested. But a warning or two…

First, what’s most important is maintaining the flow, and the thread of your argument, or you risk losing your reader.

Second, the context largely determines which tricks and devices will be acceptable to your audience. Speakers have greater licence than writers when it comes to breaking the rules of grammar. But less formal, more natural writing styles are more widely accepted than ever, so long as we don’t mangle the language or meaning.

(Note: The examples that follow have been deployed here, as this article is written in an informal blog style).

• Drop in the odd unexpected word here and there – a non-standard or vernacular term can leaven a flat text. (Maybe, even take a liberty with the language, but put it in quotes to show it’s deliberate, not dumb.)

• Switch to the passive voice for a change (but only very occasionally; if you over-do it, your prose will be soporific).

• Use a metaphor or two (but beware mixing).

• Vary the length of sentences. And the rhythm. You might even break the rules for writing proper sentences (eg, no verb).

• Rather than repeat the same term over and over, use synonyms – this is also known as elegant variation.

Other parallels

Listening to those speaking coaches prompted a few other parallels, which are perhaps less obvious:

• FILLER WORDS

We’re conditioned to verbalise hesitations and so fill in the gaps when speaking with fillers: ‘um – like – you know’. It’s not so noticeable in everyday conversation. However, according to research by Quantified Communications  (using behavioural science and AI) effective speakers use just one filler per minute; average speakers rely on five.

These ‘crutch words’ distract listeners and get in the way of the message and hurt the speaker’s credibility.

Lazy writing leans on them too. Their equivalents range from redundancies (new innovation, unite together) to jargon and clichés (going forward, at this moment in time, thinking out of the box, in our DNA…).

Imprecise terms and this verbal fluff – using more words than necessary – suggests woolly thinking and makes it harder to grasp the meaning.

• PAUSES

Great public speakers pepper their speech with pauses instead of filler sounds. And they pause for longer. That takes confidence. Pauses give the speaker time to collect their thoughts, calm their nerves if necessary, and they build suspense among listeners, Noah points out. Pauses also let the message sink in.

With writing it’s easier. Punctuation does the job for us. (It was invented by Aristophanes of Byzantium around 200 BC to advise actors by guiding their breathing.)

Commas signal a micro-pause at the end of a clause, or they separate the different items or phrases in a list. A colon warns us there’s a list coming. A semi-colon lets us know the following phrase or thought is closely related to the previous point. You can take a breather after a full stop. (Brackets contain an aside or explanation, usually an optional extra.) A new paragraph brings a new thought and sets the rhythm. Etc.

• QUESTIONS

The effective communicator asks questions during a presentation to refocus attention as well as eliciting participation. This works too when writing, especially in a longer-form article. It’s a way of introducing the next section, and extending the line of your argument or story. Subheadings (cross-heads) have a similar purpose, whether or not they’re in the form of a question. They also break up the text so it’s less daunting to the eye. They help readers see the structure of the article. And guide those who scan to what’s most relevant.

 When all’s said & done

To sum up… Talking and writing are not the same – the transcript of a presentation or video will need at least some tweaking to work as a blog or article. But many principles of good communication hold true for both. Classical orators, for example, grouped key phrases and words in threes for maximum effect. Francis Bacon – the first great English essayist – deployed the same device 400 years ago. Speechwriters followed, and the ‘rule of three’ still serves well in marketing copy and other writing, and talk, today.

So bear in mind the parallels between what works on paper and on the tongue. It can help us communicate more effectively.

What do you say?