Welcome to the Writer’s Corner, where I’ll be offering up some tidbits to help us all write more effectively.

What better inaugural topic than one of the most important rules of communication: address the reader! When you speak directly to the reader, it not only makes your prose clearer, it forms a bond between yourself and your audience.

Note the difference in the following sentences:

People love SmeltCorp pre-cooked smelt products for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

You’ll love SmeltCorp pre-cooked smelt products for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Imagine yourself as a prospective customer. Whether you’ll actually love SmeltCorp’s products or not, you’d rather not get lumped in with “people,” would you? No, if you’re interested enough to read the copy, you’re already wondering whether you’ll like it.

Only one word has changed, but that one word changed the meaning of the sentence from a boast to a direct assertion. (If you back it up with a guarantee, it’s practically a double-dare!)

Even if you’re writing a technical document, addressing your copy to the reader pays dividends in clearer instructions. In the technical domain, it’s easy to lose your feel for the audience, and speaking directly to the reader is the next best thing to walking in their shoes.

Whether you’re writing to one or one million readers, you have the power to speak directly to each and every person who reads your copy, just as I’m speaking to you right now.

Simple, huh?

Please feel free to add your comments, questions, and tips of your own—we’re all students in this classroom.