A truth in academia is that student essays are almost universally unreadable. This isn’t only because (many) students are painfully bad writers, it’s more basic than that, it’s because the essay structure that is drilled into their heads from the moment they pick up a pad and pen is a terrible way to convey interesting information.

It’s rigid. It’s stodgy. It’s objective. It’s a platform developed to highlight facts and by design it undermines the primary component of interesting content — owning the voice.

The web, like television and magazines, is at its core a broadcast medium. It’s why it’s such a good tool for getting a message out to a wide audience; people don’t want to hear you regurgitate facts — they can get that anywhere — they want to hear your voice, to feel the emotional context of your message. They want you to bring them inside and show them why they should care, so they can care and act.

How do you breath life into your message?

A good way to do it is to talk to yourself a little. Read your post aloud, watch your video, review your advertising copy from a distance — put some space between you and your work and try to get into the mind of your audience.

Ask yourself,

• What about this situation will my viewer find really exciting?
• How do I feel about it? How can I convey that through a story/metaphor/image?
• What other information might be helpful? Is there a contrarian viewpoint? Can I magnify my view on the matter even more?

Pay specific attention to the points where you are flatly enumerating facts, when you’re essay writing, and ask yourself if your audience would be better served by bringing yourself or your message back onto center stage.

Take ownership of the content you produce. Craft it so that whether I am reading your blog, watching your Twitter or listening to you speak at an event I have a clear idea of not just what you know but who you are.

Remember, this is the Internet, I can get information from just about anywhere — give me a reason to want to get it from you.

You should go read my book on creativity and building great ideas, it’s free.

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