Conversational copy

Talk it out

Run the ‘Hey, did you hear?’ test

Having trouble nailing that “business casual” tone you’re aiming for? Try reading your message aloud — after a friendly greeting or phrase:

“Good morning, honey!

… Read the full article

Conduct a sound check

Read your copy aloud

When Don Murray arrived in the newsroom for his first day on the job as writing coach for the Boston Globe, he turned to his new boss and said: “I can tell you who your three best writers are.”

Then the Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Writing to Deadline: The Journalist at Work proceeded to do just that.… Read the full article

‘Dear Mother’

Write a letter to make your copy conversational

“Good writers are visible just behind their words.”

— William Zinsser, author, On Writing Well

Eliot Fette Noyes was a Harvard-trained architect and industrial designer.… Read the full article

Quotes on conversational writing

What writers and others say

“A conversation is a dialogue, not a monologue. That’s why there are so few good conversations: due to scarcity, two intelligent talkers seldom meet.”

— Truman Capote, author and gadabout who wrote In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s

“The voice of most news stories is neutral and authoritative.