Turn off your “radio voice”

You know the corny old story about interviews - the one where you imagine the interviewer is sitting in his or her underwear? Now think of a radio or TV announcer and imagine them walking around their own home talking in those measured tones with all the gravitas they can muster! Wouldn’t you find it a bit distracting, if not a bit fake?

The same is true for you and me trying to communicate with - God knows how many - nameless strangers reading on a social network site. But times have changed, social media is conversation, and a “radio voice” sticks out like a sore thumb. We’re seeing people struggle with this as online media evolves.

Maybe we should turn off the formality and talk to the audience as individuals. Have a regular conversation with them. Not only will your message sound more authentic, but the conversational tone will encourage a conversational response.

If you use language and tone like your readers would use in everyday language, your message is more likely to be heard, remembered and repeated.

Talk to them directly. Have you ever been in a noisy restaurant, ignoring all the talking around you, someone says your name? You are suddenly in listening mode and you’re looking around and listening. You are trying to find out if it is a coincidence or if someone is actually trying to get your attention.

You weren’t listening until you thought someone was talking directly to you.

The same thing is true in every communication situation, especially in the cluttered world of the Internet. As users troll websites they tend to ignore general messages that could be targeted at anyone. Instead, they hone in on the messages that seem designed for them.

Even if your intention is just fostering interaction, by identifying your listener, you will often get valuable insights which help you build your target audience. Equally, information that tries to be too helpful to everyone is unlikely to be interesting to anyone.