How does it make you feel?
That’s one of the key questions you must ask about everything you write.
As much as we’d like to tell our friends and family that we’re logical creatures who make decisions based only on the facts, it’s simply not true.
Emotions are much more powerful than intellect.
And they react much faster to stimuli as well.
For example, researchers at the University of York found people form snap judgements about people’s character based on their facial expressions in as little as 33 milliseconds.
Too often we think logically about our own work, especially our writing.
We covered all the bases. We made a ‘strong argument.’
But what’s even more important is how it feels to your audience.
My phone clients could tell you there are many times where we’ll read their emails, sales copy, or some other form of content out loud together.
As we’re going along, I’ll stop and say, “Something doesn’t feel right.”
We hit a speed bump in the copy somewhere.
It didn’t feel right.
It may take a few moments to figure out exactly what is wrong.
Maybe the word choice wasn’t strong enough.
We’ll use an online thesaurus to search for stronger word choices.
For example, ‘concerned’ could be changed to ‘worried.’
‘Shame’ changes to ‘humiliate.’
‘Captive’ changes to ‘slave’.
Or maybe it’s a good place to add in a word picture.
Financial ads talk about ‘blood in the streets’ or a ‘financial bloodbath’.
Weight loss ads talk about the fat ‘melting away’.
Business ads say you will ‘magnetically attract hungry buyers’.
Those are phrases that call up images in your mind. They put your imagination to work.
Or perhaps the word that’s bugging us just doesn’t fit well for the target audience.
The same words and phrases that might appeal emotionally to young hot-shot copywriters will likely send a group of expectant mothers running for the hills.
It doesn’t feel right to those readers.
Or perhaps the copy is boring.
It needs a story to bring life to it.
Or it needs to be shorter and snappier instead of long and drawn out.
Always read what you’ve written out loud.
Not only will you spot obvious mistakes, but you’ll also spot places you stumble.
And if you do it often enough, you’ll can train your senses to ‘feel’ what you’re reading.
Good writing is empathetic.
It’s easy and fun to read. It’s a slippery slide. You know you’re seeing it when you start off reading something with an intention to put it to the side.
But you slide all the way to the end.
And it’s vital in today’s age of attention-deficit.
One of the detailed special reports you’ll get immediate access to inside of the Monthly Mentor Club is called, “Fast Writing Formula: 7 Step Formula For Writing Faster and More Profitable Content, Emails, and Sales Copy.”
Try out the Monthly Mentor Club today…
Once you’re inside the membership area, go to the “Report Library” tab at the top of the site. Then scroll down and click on “Fast Writing Formula” to download the complete system.
