I’m guilty of this myself. Too much information in my articles and posts. Telling you what and how, why and when. Giving you bullet points and instructions, telling you what to do and how to do it.
There’s nothing wrong with the how-to’s, of course. It’s just that there are other things to talk about.
Suppose you and I were buds. We get together for to hang out, shoot the shite, bring each other up to speed on what’s going on.
We have a few adult beverages and share a few laughs. In other words, we have some fun.
Why can’t we do that online?
We can and we should.
When we write a blog post or article, when we record a video or podcast, when we post on social media, we don’t have to be “all business, all the time.”
That doesn’t mean being unprofessional or always going for the laugh. It means letting down our hair, speaking or writing informally, and sharing information and ideas that aren’t strictly law-related.
If you had an interesting day, tell people about it. If your son or daughter tells you something funny that happened in school, share it. If your neighbor charges his Tesla at night and you can hear that annoying electric hum through the wall of your house and it drives you crazy, mention it–like I just did about my neighbor.
We can also have fun playing with language. One way is to use phrases your readers don’t expect you to use. You feel me? Are you picking up what I’m laying down?
You know, fun.
Now, you may be wondering, why. Why should we put fun in our writing or speaking, or for those of us who do it already, why should we do it more?
Because our readers want us to.
They want to see our human side. They want us to make them smile. They want to have more fun, and and they don’t want us to give them homework every time they hear from us.
Yes, we should teach our readers something. But we can do that and also entertain them for the few minutes it takes for them to read what we write.
It’s called infotainment. A friend of mine describes it as “Education wrapped in candy.”
Give your readers their peas and carrots but also give them dessert.
You may find it difficult to do this, to loosen up in front of an audience who is used to you being straight. But you can do it (it just takes practice) and when you do, you’ll be glad you did.
You’ll enjoy writing more. You’ll get more replies and engagement from your readers. You’ll build a following instead of just a list of people who consume your content.
Which means you’ll also get more business.
Start slowly. Add a sprinkle of lighter material here and there. One way you could do that is to make your usual (boring) legal point and then use a colorful analogy or story to illustrate it.
A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.
Give it a try. You might find you’re good at it. You might enjoy it immensely. It might give new life to your writing and speaking.
One thing’s for sure. Your subscribers will love it.
They’ll look forward to your next post or email or presentation, and they’ll tell their friends about you, because you’re not like all those other (boring) lawyers.
