sound human

We ended the previous post: “The world won’t end if you sound human. You’ll be trusted because you’re real. And, you’ll get more customers.”

How do you sound human in marcom?

Rule 1: write in the active voice: The dog chased the ball. [5 words]

“dog” is the subject.

“chased” is the verb.

“ball” is the object.

The foundation of all good marcom is the active voice, which refers to the subject doing the action. In this case, the dog. Active voice can be in the past, as in this example sentence, the present, or future tense. Communicate these three elements succinctly—subject, verb, object—to create simple sentences that copy how we speak or what’s known as a conversational voice and tone. 

Don’t make customers wade through 35-, 45-, 55-word sentences with the main point buried in marcom blah blah blah. They want to know how your product can make them more successful. Tell them in everyday words and sentences. Real. Human.

The opposite of the active voice is passive voice: The ball was chased by the dog. [7 words; 40% more words than the active voice]

In this version, the subject—dog—isn’t doing the action. You need a helping verb—"was"—and a prepositional phrase—"by the dog"—to complete the sentence. Helping verbs and prepositional phrases bloat copy, which is why so much marcom is dead on arrival: too many words to make a point. And, those sentences are usually stuffed with unnecessary features and benefits. Passive voice is not how we speak and, for this reason, is not how to build an online connection with a customer.

Forget everything you've ever learned about marcom copywriting. Because most of the rules were set in stone before digital: before stressed-out buyers with never-ending to-do lists and bright screens. People scroll and scan. They don’t read. They don’t want long-winded sentences or jargon in tiny letters on a desktop, laptop, or mobile device. They want you to be real.

Active voice, short sentences, and short paragraphs, which bring a message to life, are real and human. You’re not writing literature. You’re launching the buyer journey simply and confidently. Just explain how the buyer will succeed by working with your company. Solve their pain point. That’s what they want in a real, human voice. 

You’ll be the exception to the dead marcom on innumerable websites in innumerable industries. The kind of copy that drives customers off of the web page, looking for a company that understands what they want: success working with real people who think and speak naturally. As they do. Human.

Copyright © 2025 Bruce Goldfaden and LSV Communications LLC. All rights reserved.