It’s them or us!
Which works best when writing for a company’s internal communication? ‘Company X announced this week that it is boosting exports to China’, or ‘We announced this week that we are boosting our exports to China.’
The former strikes a dispassionate, and therefore more authoritative tone, whereas adopting the third person is more engaging; it makes people feel included, one of the team, a valued contributor.
A crude survey suggests it’s the hoary, old print journos, dying hard with their dog-eared house style guidelines, clinging to an approach that favours disinterested gravitas over cosy inclusiveness, while the younger generation, who have grown up with the internet, see things through a more democratic prism.
The third person, while offering a degree of credibility, can also strike a patrician, top-down tone. On the other hand, using the first person can make the narrative seem a bit parochial.
The explosion of comms channels has changed the landscape, the language and the dynamic forever. Employee engagement is everything now, but actually, it always was – it just didn’t have a name when some of us started in the industry… quite a long time ago.
So which is right – third person authority or first person inclusiveness? The answer is… whichever works best, taking into account your audience, the size and type of organisation, and the subject matter.
Tell us what do you think?
What matters is that the content of your publication, website, email or social media update really grabs your audience’s attention.
Five tips for engaging content:
1. It’s all about the audience! To make it truly engaging, make your readers feel part of it. They must feel it’s their publication – about them and for them. Don’t talk about what exporting to China means for the business. Talk about what it means to the people making the product.
2. Design it right. It doesn’t matter how well it’s written, if it doesn’t look good, you’re not going to catch your readers’ eye in the first place.
3. Write with readers in mind and adopt a style to suit. The trend is towards informal.
4. Keep it simple. Jettison the jargon and minimise the management speak.
5. Less is more. Stick to the key messages.