“I just think you should buy my product because I think it’s great.”
“It would help me if you filled out this form.”
Not all that convincing, hey? As much as we'd like to help people out or to be able trust the brands trying to sell us their products, we don’t always have the time or the inclination.
Whilst writing an internal email to friends of the ATEAM, it crossed my mind that these small, simple changes will help anyone who writes emails, participates in meetings, or writes Instagram captions.
Copywriting is an art in itself, some people are truly gifted when it comes to a witty, intelligent, informative, approachable, memorable sweet spot when conveying a tone of voice.
There are, however, 4 small rules that should (but often aren’t) a given when conversing with anyone in a business sense:
Remove the word ‘just’. Don’t undermine yourself like that. Your product, service or opinion isn’t ‘just’ anything. It’s valuable.
Think before you say ‘I think’. If you are certain of something, claim it. “I know you’ll like this because….”. If you are unsure, actually think about ‘why’ or consider going to do some research before making the comment or statement.
Replace ‘I’ or ‘we’ with ‘you’. People are time poor and aren’t always able to / interested in helping you. Put the shoe on their foot and consider what the person your communicating with wants. If you can approach them with why helping you will also help them, it's a win win.
Instead of say ‘like’, pause and think about what you’re about to say. Use that split second more effectively. (Its ok to say think in that context by the way 😉).
This year tone of voice will become incredibly important with the integration of AI and invisible interaction with brands. If you are struggling to define your tone of voice, contact us and we’ll do it for you. 💕 #yourewelcome