Your email inbox is bursting with messages. Some are blatant attempts at phishing – a way to get information and/or money out of you. Some are completely irrelevant. But many emails you receive are so poorly written you can’t tell what they’re trying to say.

The email below was sent to college faculty members from the Chair of their department. Read it and see if you can tell what the main message is for those who received it.

This email is formal, complex, long-winded, and confusing as hell. It’s headache inducing. It is NOT copywriting. But when I rewrite the email using copywriting principles, it reveals a very important and simple message for the faculty members it was sent to. Here it is rewritten, in short, sweet, plain english.

This demonstrates an important principle of copywriting: don’t use formal, complex language. Use “real talk” language. Plain english. In other words, write the way you actually speak to people you know.

Let’s try another one. Read the following sentence, which I found on LinkedIn, and decide for yourself whether it’s copywriting or not copywriting.

Copywriting? Or NOT copywriting?

There are fewer words in the sentence. It’s easier to understand the meaning of the sentence. But do real people really talk like this? When speaking with a friend, do you use jargon-y phrases like “better leadership habits” or “age of information overload”. Probably not. You might use such phrases when trying to impress your boss. But if you’re trying to reach thousands of people who are not your boss, you’d speak and write this differently.

This demonstrates another important principle of copywriting: Avoid jargon. Avoid marketing speak. Avoid sounding like a politician. Because chances are you don’t trust a politician further than you could throw them – which isn’t far at all.

Here’s this sentence rewritten:

Good copywriting is writing that speaks the way real people speak. When you write the way real people speak they feel seen. When people feel seen, they feel understood. When they feel understood, it’s easier for them to connect with you and what you’re saying.

By the way, part of learning to be a copywriter is unlearning what you’re learned about writing. The importance of punctuation. Of avoiding sentence fragments. Of never starting a sentence with the word “and”. Of capitalization. Blah. Blah. Blah.