Published on <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/nobody-cares-but-you-can-make-them-377464c83a62?source=rss----eb297ea1161a---4">| Prototyping: From UX to Front End &mdash; Medium</a> John Sunart 
As a designer I speak well, and I draw well. But I’ve always wanted to learn to write better copy. Here are the top tips and principles I was taught at a “writing for business” masterclass. By applying them to your copy you’ll quickly change your writing, and start to make your audience care.
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*-OhgLWeozR2iExQEQ3rrGA.jpeg">
Being able to communicate complex ideas in a simple, persuasive way is essential for my job. I usually do it verbally. Speaking is really important to me, it’s when I do my best thinking. I’ll often iterate and evolve an idea multiple times in the course of a single conversation.
To me writing feels constrained and fixed. When it’s on paper there is no going back. That’s not about deniability, rather about flexibility. To write is to fix ideas in place. To speak is to let them breathe.
The particular masterclass I attended didn’t help me with letting my ideas breathe on paper. That’s still a challenge to be solved. But it did provide me with a framework I can use to make sure that when I do put something down on paper it’s going to be read. And that’s the key to getting that in-person conversation I really want.
<h3>1. Write for your audience</h3>
This should be super obvious. We design for a specific the audience and we should write for them too.
If they’re not your audience, don’t write for them.
Consider when your audience is open to your content, how will they access it, have have they looked at it before, will they read it again? Use their language. Use their analogies. Write it for them.
You know how busy your audience is. In most instances they’re not going to hang around for long. Explain what you want them to do in the first two sentences. People are not going to wait to figure out why they should read your content.
<h3>2. Start with your headline</h3>
Your headline (or subject line) isn’t a title. It’s an emotive and powerful piece of content.
It’s the only part of your content most people will read.
Rather than acting as a cold wayfinder, it should invite your audience to explore what follows, drawing them in with the suggestion that the content can enrich them. A headline isn’t a summary of the content, but it should tell your readers what to expect.
Your headline is also what you should write first. This might seem a little counterintuitive, but your headline dictates the story you want to tell. It should have all of the most important information in a bitesize format. Your headline doesn’t have to say everything.
Your headline should:
<ul>
<li>Explain the subject of the content.</li>
<li>Be specific.</li>
<li>Explain why the content has been written.</li>
<li>Express the tone your content is written in.</li>
</ul>
<h3>3. Make choices; indecisive copy is pointless</h3>
It’s tempting to try and do everything in just one piece of communication. You need to be brave and choose one thing. One headline. One subject. One lead. One audience. One tone. Write that story, and if it doesn’t tell everything that you need it to then write a second.
Making these choices isn’t easy, but it is essential. That’s the art of editorial.
Your story can have several threads, but make sure you tell each one of them properly. Prioritise the story you want to tell.
Making your audience jump back and forth increases cognitive load and clouds your message. You know those novels which allow the story to unfold over a series of first person narratives? They’re complicated, and unless that’s what you’re trying to articulate that’s bad. Don’t do that.
Just like when you’re designing, you’re going to have to make calls when you’re writing. Don’t try to do too much. Ask yourself what’s the most important message. Write about that.
<h3>4. Be brave — write hot</h3>
Most corporate writing is boring. It’s boring because it’s cold. It’s cold because people don’t take risks. They always play it safe.
Why is cold and safe content bad, even in a corporate environment? Simple: because no one will read it.
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*taI6EpUSx9hp7-SZ-l9qjQ.png">
Cold, safe and correct is fine (kind of) in a contract. But if you want people to actually take in what you’re writing then you need to write hot.
To write hot you need to include intent and emotion in your writing. You need to avoid too many numbers or acronyms. Even to an audience who understands that language, you risk killing the content.
Writing hot is risky. You need to have an opinion. You need to have a strong tone. Those things make your writing interesting. When you’re writing hot, people might really, really disagree with you. But they read your content. That’s the key to successful content. People don’t have to agree with what you say, in fact you might get better engagement if they don’t, but they do have to read it.
Every brand has a sweet spot. This is where your brand, message and tone is as hot as it can be, without crossing the line. That sweet spot changes with every new story. When in doubt, remember it’s easier to cool a piece down than it is to heat it up, so hot is the best place to start.
<h3>5. When in doubt ask yourself these two things</h3>
If you start to doubt your writing, or if you start to miss the point ask yourselves these two questions:
<ul>
<li>What am I telling them?</li>
<li>Why am I telling them that now?</li>
</ul>
Can’t answer? Stop, think, start again.
<h3>Why is it important?</h3>
As design continues to concrete its grip on the decision makers in business it becomes ever more important that we write content that’s persuasive, powerful and engaging. As we continue to move away from surface level design, into deep services and complex system design we need to explain ourselves clearly and passionately.
As a rule designers communicate better in person. But most of us don’t have a weekly meeting with the client CEO. Getting that complex, beautiful design articulated in a way they will read is now more important than ever.
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