Don’t Be A Smartass When You Write

Why?

The reason is pretty simple: nobody likes a smartass, and nobody likes to read something where the writer seems like he is trying to be smarter than he actually is. Worse, by doing so, you’re actually wasting more energy than you need to by trying to be something you’re not.

Ultimately, writing something – whether it is an email or an article – is all about communicating. Rather than trying to figure out how you can look smart, you need to figure out what your message is, and what you want to say to people who will be reading it. It’s more than just the facts and figures – it’s what you particularly want to say.

If you’re trying to drown all this out with fancy words and concepts, the message will get lost, along with your audience. Trust me, if you’re content marketing, that’s the last thing you want. You want to keep people engaged and interacting with your message.

So how can you do this the easy way? Getting rid of the big and fancy words – especially the ones that you use in the wrong way – is the first step. If it’s long or you’re not 100% on what it means (but you know it looks smart), just drop it.

Use the active voice rather than the passive voice. The active voice is more direct, while a passive voice makes you sound like a long-winded gasbag, and nobody likes long-winded gasbags. For example, don’t say “The company will file its reports tomorrow” when talking about your business. Say, “I will file the report tomorrow”. It’s more direct, more honest, and makes you a lot more personable.

At the end of the day, good communication isn’t difficult – but as humans, we tend to get lost in what we think it is. So, get back to basics!