How to Write Conversationally

Writing conversationally is the best way to engage readers.

Your writing is more human, more fun, and more stylistic. You’re writing with passion and personality. You’re engaging the reader like you would a friend.

You may know the benefit of what it does to your writing, but how do you create this style and connection with the reader?

I discovered a simple formula that helps you write conversationally.

Write with Personal Pronouns

You and your are the greatest pronouns you need to write conversationally.

You need them to make it about the reader. You need to because you’re engaging the reader. Take a look at the two previous sentences — they start with you.

When you start with the reader (“you” sentences), it sounds like you’re talking to a friend. Take a look at these two examples:

• To save money, open a bank account
• If you wanna save money, open a bank account

See the difference? It’s about the reader. It’s about what you can do for them.

Write in Short and Simple Sentences

When you talk to a friend, you’re not usually giving a speech. You’re having a conversation. Sometimes those conversations have short sentences.

Short sentences give your reader time to pause and think about what you said. It punches home a succinct and powerful point.

Most importantly, you’re expressing one idea in a sentence.

Plain language is like the frosting on top of your short sentences. There’s no need to spice up your language. You’re not trying to prove you’re a writer, you’re to prove you’re human.

Here are some examples:

• We think it’s necessary to offer our assistance when you travel
• We’ll help you when you travel

Delete words. Make it plain. Take out the fluff.

These are key to simple and highly effective writing.

Don’t Be Afraid of Breaking the Rules

I love writing. I don’t love grammar. Sure, you need it to make words fit together like whiskey and baileys. But sometimes, ignore it.

Sometimes, you make your damn drink.

You should write how you feel regardless of grammar rules. You want the writer to feel your emotion. So you break commas, periods, and the grammar your 9th-grade English teacher would be appalled at.

Writing conversationally is feeling. You’re not writing objectively; you’re writing subjectively. This is how you really really really feel. That’s how you connect to your readers.

Take this snippet from one of my favorite writers, Bill Simmons.

“You bleed for your team, you follow them through thick and thin, you monitor every free-agent signing, you immerse yourself in Draft Day, you purchase the jerseys and caps, you plan your Sundays around the games … and there’s a little rainbow waiting at the end. You can’t see it, but you know it’s there. It’s there. It has to be there. So you believe.

You feel his passion for writing (even look at his pronouns). Bill Simmons engages the reader like a fan talking to a fan.

Find out what subject you care about most and write about it. Don’t worry about grammar, worry that the writer won’t feel what you feel when you wrote it.

Writing Conversationally Takes Practice

It took me years to understand conversational writing because I thought writing had to sound formal and objective.

I was wrong.

Writing is about finding your voice and what you care about.

When you write conversationally, you’ll connect with your readers more than ever.