Sometimes it requires speaking out loud whatever thoughts you have in your head, or whatever you’ve written down, to really get that authentic feedback from yourself. Often mistakes allude us, at least until they are verbalized. Making this key to my writing success. When counting all the errors that have slipped by in emails I’ve sent—regardless of the recipient—there aren’t enough fingers on my hands (let alone twenty) to tally that atrocious amount.
I recently stubbled across a video that addressed this exact topic. Giving a rundown: the speaker emphasizes the importance of being able to not only 1) grab the attention of the reader, but 2) create something memorable as well.
Verbally reading out your work will improve the quality/ experience by: enhancing the flow of the sentence structure, encouraging your brain to think critically about better sounding words, opening your mind to another (editing/reader) perspective, and etc. Expand the way you view emails with this singular tactic for guaranteed better writings. At the very least, there should be no simple errors. Fingers crossed.
The points made above were exactly how I view this action (of speaking out loud), when drafting my messages. For me, it’s an opportunity to practice how it might sound if this were a conversation; it offers a chance to give some personality and individuality in a writing as well. It’s a pretty useful detail to include. Through treating emails/ written works in this manner, it fulfills that memorability aspect—that can really differentiate you from every other email that recipient read that day. At the end of the day, we are all humans and shouldn’t try and communicate in a way that isn’t natural. Always keep in mind the level of professional needed, though it is (when applicable) fine to deviate and offer some genuineness through ones words.
However you might start a conversation with another person, could be a good starter in your email. It’s almost an equivalent of walking up to someone. How would you making it meaningful and interesting? I ultimately view the written language as the same as speaking. I’m sure many would disagree with that point (strictly off the different nuances of each). For me, the more honest and “human” something is, it’s more likely to convince me to listen to that message.
Whatever reason you decide to read (or not read) aloud emails is your own prerogative. Though if we analyzed works I have read out loud vs. ones I have not, I’m sure we’ll see numerous errors in grammar and something that ultimately resembles a clunky read. Making me unable to stress the importance of adding this tool to ones repertoire.
I felt it was extremely effective that you included the different ways that reading your work out loud can enhance your writing with the sentence, “…enhancing the flow of the sentence structure, encouraging your brain to think critically about better sounding words, opening your mind to another (editing/reader) perspective, and etc.” The addition of these examples are useful as it allows the reader to fully grasp how this strategy can help their writing. I personally have improved my writing and noticed these aspects when reading my work aloud. Can you think of any negative affects of reading your work out loud?
I really like the quote that you put up there, I think it pointed out the essence of reading aloud. I agree with what you said about how reading aloud can spot errors and improve the quality of writing. I also can resonate with you about writing an email, it is really difficult to write a professional email without sounding like a robot, I guess I should try this tactic next time when drafting an email (you are very convincing in writing, I have to say). Since you mentioned email, where do you think the lines are when being honest and human, as you said, and being professional?