The Drama of Copywriting: Diction
Our look at Aristotle’s Six Elements of Copywriting — I mean, Drama — continues with Diction.
That’s the term as it’s normally translated, but Aristotle is referring, not to beauty of enunciation, but to the characters’ choice of words in their dialogue. Diction and Character overlap somewhat, naturally, since the former is a tool used to help communicate the latter. And this element is particularly important in the theatre. Movies have an unlimited range of visual imagery to help reveal characterization through actions, but on the stage, you are what you say. Even when you’re lying, the fact that you’re lying tells us something important about who you are and how you feel. Speeches are dramatic actions, onstage or in real life. Every statement we make, every question we ask, carries an intention — we’re trying to make a particular impact for a particular reason.
That’s what copywriting is about, too.
When you write marketing copy, you must always be aware of what your word choices make you sound like to your reader. Are you comforting? Admonishing? Cultured? Folksy? Your word choices not only paint a picture of your character, they also set the tone for the entire marketing experience. (We’ll be tackling Tone soon, when we examine the element of “Music.”) Are you using a tone your target market will automatically agree with, is it more likely to turn your readers off? You must have a clear idea of your audience’s values, background, field of endeavor, et cetera, before you can have any clue which word choices will ring out loud and clear instead of screeching like nails on a blackboard. Politicians tend to master this early in their careers, enabling them to come across as “just plain folks” at a local carnival, then adapt a high-level of techno-speak for an address to the information technology community.
Unless you’re running for office, you don’t necessarily have to appeal to a broad spectrum of readers. You just have to aim the right words at your little sliver of the pie. But what if your target market encompasses people from many different walks of life, backgrounds, or corporate cultures? Here are a couple of all-weather tips that should help:
1. Find the need and feed it. Figure out what all these widely divergent people NEED and WANT to hear. If they’re all in your target market, then there’s something underneath they all share, some emotional bottom line that needs to be fulfilled. Make sure your word choices are consistent with that underlying need, and your broad base of clientele will all stay tuned to what you have to say.
2. Be clear. Clarity of language is the great “One Size Fits All” solution to making sure your audience gets what you mean, even if you’re not mimicking their precise linguistic or emotional comfort zone. Understanding is the road to empathy, so make sure you’re understood. Use short words. Use precise words. Use active words. Make it easier for your reader to climb on board, and he’ll read all the way to the end.
And then he’ll buy something.
