Writing in a Human Voice

I’ve been talking a lot this year about writing with a human voice. Drop the lingo, leave the jargon and edit out the “corp speak.”

Whether you’re writing a letter to employees about a company shake-up, writing compelling public relations materials such as releases, backgrounders or fact sheets, or penning a speech, it’s becoming more vital to communicate in a human voice.

This terrific example from Nedra at Spare Change is from Zichron Menachem – The Israeli Association for the Support and Assistance of Children with Cancer and their Families. The letter has been translated from the original Hebrew. An excerpt…

I want to thank you for your partnership with Zichron Menachem — for helping make a very difficult time, a bit easier. And I want you to know that how successful your effort is, every time I see a bashful smile from those mirrors, trying to love what they see. And they succeed.

This letter is amazing. The emotional (and human) connection of the words on the page not only reinforces the donor’s decision, but paints of picture of those who the precious gift of hair will serve.