- In the article “How to create a culture manifesto for your organization (and why its a good idea)” the author processes what she has learned by breaking down the article into subtopics of three companies, and ending with how the readers themselves can create their own humanifesto. The targeted group would be those entering the workforce or those who are starting up companies. The author utilizes smaller paragraphs that are easy to read while writing in a format that is more conversational. This information is more usable for readers as it is easy to find what they are looking for, and quick to understand. I believe the author writes the article in this way in order to keep the attention of the reader, while also using well known companies as examples to have the reader relate to the article. I believe the author also wrote in this format to relay themselves as a friend giving advice, as the author relays specific examples but not quoted and ending off with what the reader can do to create their own. By ending with how to create your own, it makes the reader feel as though they are talking to the author in person, while the author makes it clear to the reader that they are important in the article. For this audience, I feel as though this is the most effective way to engage them and create a compelling article.
- For my writing, I want my purpose to be a call to action for those who are entering the work force, which is the reader I would want to engage with. The kinds of texts this sort of reader would be likely to engage with are first hand accounts from those with disabilities and information from studies. I see them getting this information on blogs, buzzed or other social media outlets. My readers would have a high expectation for level of detail, as providing the most information possible is something that attracts them. For writing style, they would tend to prefer a conversation style of writing as it feels more friendly and relatable. The length preferred of text would be short and to the point. Time spent read would be less than 5 minutes as it would coincide with the short and too the point method. Citation would be a nice flow in the sentence with an easy transition as it would make it easy to read. The types of evidence and sources would be credible and reliable as they make it easier to be reliable
Writing and organizational cultures
I agree that the information from “How to create a culture manifesto for your organization (and why it’s a good idea)” was written to be more usable for readers because of the smaller paragraphs and format of the writing. For your second response, I think it is a great idea to keep your project short and to the point. This will keep your audience engaged and interested. A conversational style of writing will help with this too because it will make the audience feel like you are talking to them in a casual way.
A conversational tone goes a long way toward fostering a sense of connection between the reader and the content and between the reader and the writer–it encourages people to keep reading because it’s pleasant to do so.
Now, as you point out, Jackie, it’s still possible (and really even desirable) to incorporate a lot of detail into a fairly conversational text–when the writer can speak from personal experience, especially in a narrative (storytelling) format, it’s still possible to convey a lot of research-based material and personal insights. Keep looking for examples of texts that do that, so you can have good models to work with as you develop your own.
Conversational writing is something that i’ve always been envious of people (who are able to do it). You bring up the author writing as though she is a friend who’s giving advice, and I think that is really accurate. To her readers, this probably feels extremely comfortable and easy (which i’m assuming was the desired effect).
As with your own writing, I am also envious of that too. When you mention not just using a conversational approach, but relaying the information in the shortest, most clear way possible, that seems like the perfect recipe to me. This seems like a simple concept to master, yet it is really hard for me to grasp this- I always end up rambling on and on because I think subconsciously the more words=better. That’s not the case though! Good job.
This is a pretty important concern (around how to write in a conversational manner) that I expect many folks will share. I’m building a new post around this, so be sure to check it out 🙂