Jan 06 2009
The Art of Turning Your Readers into Listeners
Have you ever treated your readers as listeners? Most probably not.
We have been trained to write for people to read. We have never been told that readers are actually listeners. who listen to the words on a page or a computer screen.
Readers themselves may not think they are listeners because in school they’ve been taught to read the words and not listen to them.
If you’re interested in keeping your readers coming back to your content, you will have to treat them like listeners.
Imagine you’re a radio deejay, when you create your content. You have to speak your content in such a way that your readers will sit up and listen.
This may not be easy if you’re just starting out to write for your readers to listen. Especially so if you have come from the academic style of writing, which strives to suppress any trace of the human voice in writing.
But then if you’re going to be a successful content creator for the web, you would have to learn to treat your readers like listeners and write accordingly.
Learning starts by studying writings which are conversational in tone. Read as many such writings as possible to get a feel for the chatty style. You’ll not be hard pressed for sources because your favorite magazine may already be adopting a conversational style.
Also start practicing conversational writing if you’ve not done it yet. Start a journal and write on matters that concern you. Write as if you’re talking to a trusted friend.
Before long, you’ll see your conversational voice emerging. When you feel it’s strong enough for readers to listen to it, go start a blog on any topic you’re excited about.
Blogs allows you to write in a conversational style without feeling guilty about it. The popular blogs are, more often than not, written in a chatty style. The readers feel as if they’re listening to a lively radio DJ and they always come back for more listening pleasure.
If you’re already writing in a conversational style, but feel your voice isn’t strong enough, here’s a tip you can use.
Read your content aloud. Does it sound like a human voice speaking? If it doesn’t, continue reading and make the necessary changes.
If you do this consistently, you’ll be on the right track to converting your readers into listeners.
