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You read that right!
On Tuesday I had the fantastic opportunity to be a guest on The Voice of Business radio show, on Radio Woking.
I’ll be honest, it was a bit of a scary experience at first. But host Nell made me feel right at home, and before long I was yammering away about all things content, copy and AI. We even snuck in a quick grammar lesson in there. I also shared some information about myself, how I got into writing and why I do it.
If you want to give it a listen, the link is above, or you can click here:
Click here to listen now.
If you’re more of a reading person, I’m going to disappoint you and not transcribe the whole thing. But I will share the answers to the listener questions I received while on the air.
What’s Your Biggest No-No In Writing?
Basically, forget everything they teach you about writing in school. Especially when it comes to structuring your pieces. When you’re in school all they want to know is that you have understood and retained the information they’re teaching. That’s why they tell you to explain what you’re going to talk about, talk about it, and then summarise what you’ve talked about.
In reality, people don’t really talk or write like that. Instead, your introduction should be a hook to draw people in and keep them reading. Your main body should say your piece, present your points along with any evidence/opinions you want to share. And your ending should be a call to action, telling the reader what to do next.
So basically, forget everything you learnt in school!
What’s Your Top Tip For Better Content Writing?
Simple – write like you’re talking to a person. Remember that businesses can’t read. You’re never writing for a business – you’re writing for the people in it. Ditch the really stiff writing style you get from school essays, and relax a bit. If it helps, say what you want to write out loud into a recorder, type it up, and then weak it to take out all of the classic ‘urms’. It will feel much more natural, and you’ll see much more success.
How Do You Choose Whether To Write In The 1st Or 3rd Person?
Pretty easily to be honest. Think of it like a conversation. The first person is the ‘I’ and the ‘me’. So it’s how you would talk about yourself. The second person is the ‘you’ – the person you’re talking to. The third person is the person you’re talking about, so the ‘he, she, they.’ So which person you choose is all about what position you’re in. Most marketing content is written in the first person, so you as a company are talking to your clients. Don’t believe me? Read the last few sentences again – I’m writing in the first person, addressing my reader as ‘you’. The third person is most often found in fiction and books, where there is a third person narrator telling a story about a set of characters.
Want some more insights? You’ll have to listen to the show! Or if you just want to chat, you know where to find me.