Write More Like You Talk

Try writing a bit more like the way you talk. For most people this actually takes some practice.

Most of us have had it DRILLED into us since our youth to write in a much more formal way than we actually talk. We think that sounds more ‘professional’ and ‘credible’. But what that often leads to is a very formal delivery that is nowhere near as engaging as if we were having a regular conversation. One way many of us try to get around this is by organizing our talks like Powerpoint Presentations. People try to use the bullets as pauses to break up the formality and give themselves a chance to sound more ‘human’. But even with the pauses it still sounds artificial because you’re not really being you.

The problem is that when we write formally, as we stand to give our presentations, most of us try to ‘humanize’ what we’re reading on the fly which doesn’t work well. It’s like trying to translate from one language into another in front of a live audience. Stressful.

However, if when you write your presentations, you practice writing like you talk, eventually you get the hang of sounding natural. And as a side-benefit, you really do learn to improvise better. You’ll find that you can think on your feet a lot more easily because you’re not wasting energy always ‘translating’ from the page as you relate to your audience.

The easiest way to begin is to simply record yourself giving your talk to people. I know it may sound creepy (or painful) at first, but it’s the quickest way to learn how you really sound to the rest of the world. Many people I work with have literally never done this. Many people get most of the information they need to improve their presentation skills simply from doing that alone.