Write to a Real Person, Not an ICP

From, "delete the post" to "this is the type of content I was looking for." What changed? I stopped trying to make the post sound good and started making it sound true. True to my client's voice, that is. This involved paying attention to: ~How my client speaks, ~The words he lean on. ~The way he explains things. ~What he would never say. I filtered every draft through that. Now, the feedbacks are different. Honestly? That shift mattered. People don’t connect first with polished content. They first connect with what feels real, authentic and true to your voice. The lesson? If you’re writing for someone and it keeps missing, it’s not a writing problem, Sharon. It’s a listening problem.

How often do you stop and ask yourself: “Who am I writing this for?”   More importantly, how honest are you with the answer?   Too often, content is framed as if it’s for the audience, when in reality it’s built around what our company or we want the audience to know. That gap shows. It’s the difference between content people seek out and content they scroll past.   Getting clear on who you’re writing for goes hand in hand with understanding why you’re writing in the first place. When those two answers align, everything shifts.   In my experience, that is when content stops being a one-off piece with a short shelf life and starts becoming evergreen. When I've gotten that alignment right, content gets repurposed, referenced and reused because it speaks directly to the real things your customers want to know.

Hot take: Most people don’t need better writing. They need better thinking. Because weak positioning can’t be saved by: → fancy hooks → trendy formatting → viral tactics If your message is unclear. Nothing else matters. The strongest creators on LinkedIn aren’t just good writers. They’re clear thinkers. That clarity shows up in: → their positioning → their message → their content direction That’s what makes people trust them.

Stop writing better posts. Start writing better first lines. Because if your first 2 lines fail… Nothing else matters. People don’t read posts. They decide whether to read. Try this: Instead of: “We launched a feature…” Say: “Most tools get this wrong…” Small shift. Big difference. #HookWriting #FirstImpressionMatters #ContentHooks #CreatorTips #LinkedInGrowth #AudienceEngagement #WriteBetter #ContentPsychology #ScrollStopping #ContentFramework

This is what “one good post” looks like. Not the final version you see. This. A pile of: – drafts that didn’t land – hooks that sounded better in your head – sentences you rewrote 12 times – ideas that almost worked… but not quite We scroll past polished content and think: “Wow, they’re so consistent.” But consistency doesn’t look like discipline while you’re in it. It looks like doubt. It looks like deleting. It looks like starting again… for the 5th time. Because good writing isn’t about getting it right the first time. It’s about staying long enough to get to the version that finally clicks. So if your work feels messy right now… Good. You’re closer than you think. #ContentWriting #CreativeProcess #LinkedInCreators #WritingLife #Consistency #Marketing #WritersOfLinkedIn

After 61 issues of writing about storytelling frameworks in my newsletter, I built something I've been wanting to exist for a long time. The Technical Storytelling Evaluator is a Claude skill that evaluates your technical content against every framework I've shared in my newsletter. Paste your article, your tutorial, your blog post, or even just a section you're not sure about, and it tells you exactly what's working, what's falling flat, and what to fix before you publish. It scores your content across 10 dimensions: ✔️ Purpose clarity ✔️ audience specificity ✔️ tension and stakes, cognitive load ✔️ BLUF, curse of knowledge, and more. You get a score out of 100, specific feedback on every weak area, and a priority fix list ranked by impact on your reader. No more guessing why your content feels off. No more publishing and wondering why it didn't land the way you expected. It's available now on my Selar page for a small fee❤️. Get it here and don't gatekeep🫡. https://lnkd.in/eu59YFGm Share this with technical writers in your network. Thank you. #techwithpraisejames #claudeskillsfortechnicalwriters #techandstorytelling

Good writing is not about using difficult words. It’s about making complex ideas feel simple, clear, and human. The best content doesn’t confuse people. It connects with them. That’s where real impact begins. #contentwriting | #contentmarketing

Most content sounds professional. Very little sounds human. That is why people stop reading. Readers do not want complicated language. They want clarity. Great content has a simple job. → Solve problems. → Build trust. → Guide decisions. Fancy writing looks impressive. But it rarely converts. Clear writing performs better because people understand it instantly. At ZadSpark Technologies, we focus on content people can actually connect with. Simple language. Clear structure. Direct value. Because trust builds faster when communication feels real. #ContentMarketing #DigitalMarketing #ZadSparkTechnologies

Your content isn't bad it's just fine... and fine is the worst thing you can be online Fine content gets a scroll and a forgotten tab. fine looks like this • Posting because it's been 3 days • A hook that sounds like everyone else's hook • Ending with "what do you think? drop it in the comments" • Writing to not be wrong instead of writing to be remembered Here's what unforgettable actually looks like • A hook that makes someone stop mid-scroll and go "wait" • One opinion you're slightly scared to post • A specific example instead of a vague observation • An ending that doesn't explain itself • Writing like one person is reading it, not thousands • Saying the thing everyone is thinking but nobody is saying Your content isn't bad it just needs to stop being careful.

The fastest way to sound like everyone else? Copy the same templates everyone else is using. Original content usually comes from something quieter: Noticing, observing & writing down the random thought before it disappears. Asking, “Is this just me, or does this feel true for others too?” That is where real point of view starts. Because content people can copy sounds polished. Content people remember sounds observed. #ShareYourGenius