Personality is a huge part of who we are as humans. However, many bloggers struggle to incorporate their own personalities into their content. This often results in dry, lackluster writing that drives readers away.
However, it’s actually not all that difficult to inject some personality into blog writing, as long as you know how. Whether it's a humorous remark or a touching anecdote, there are plenty of ways you can bring more of yourself into your work.
In this post, we’ll talk about why personality is such an important element to bring to the table. We’ll also reveal six ways you can add personality to your blog posts, and how they will benefit you – and your blog – in the long run.
Contents
Why You Should Add Personality to Your Blog Posts
As a writer, it’s your responsibility to inform and educate your readers. For some bloggers, their job stops here. For others, who are also looking to engage and enthrall, it's only the beginning.
When you add personality to your blog posts, you'll reap two major benefits:
- You'll build connections with your readers. This is essential to the success of your blog and your business.
- You'll stand out within your niche. Completely unique ideas are rare, but the way in which you present yourself can do a lot in terms of differentiation. With a bit of personality, you can transform from ‘just another marketing blogger' into ‘the marketing blogger whose writing resonates with readers'.
Now that we know why we should inject some personality, let's find out how to do it!
6 Vital Tips to Help You Add Personality to Your Blog Posts
Adding personality to your blog posts is really quite simple, and the six tips we reveal below will provide you with plenty of inspiration to get you started. Let's dive in.
1. Include Relevant Anecdotes
Including anecdotes is an excellent way to add a human element to your writing. They can also break up posts in such a way as to keep them interesting and relatable.
Take, for example, this heart-wrenching anecdote found in the introduction of this article by Jon Morrow:
This anecdote serves two purposes:
- It draws you in. You want to continue reading, both to see how the story ends and to understand how it fits into the post overall.
- It adds a human element to the piece, encouraging readers to empathize with the writer.
Of course, anecdotes don’t have to be touching to serve their purpose. They can be funny, thrilling, or perhaps even a bit rage-inducing. As long as they keep your readers interested and serve to further your point, they’ve done their job.
2. Add a Touch of Humor
You don’t need to keep your readers laughing throughout your blog post, but a little bit of humor is a great way to break down otherwise ‘boring' content.
Not sure where to begin? Take a look at how Jorden Roper from Writing Revolt used exaggeration to spice up her content:
Why humor? It's an avenue for humans to connect and relate, especially since most humor is based around the human experience.
There are a few easy ways to add humor to your blog posts without overdoing it. Exaggeration is one example, but others include the addition of metaphors, self-deprecating humor, and even a pun or two.
3. Use Descriptive Language
Creating fresh content using completely unique ideas can be difficult. However, by using descriptive language, you can put a fresh spin on existing ideas, making them more valuable and engaging. However, this language doesn’t need to be elaborate, and it’s quite easy to add to your work.
Here’s a title example to get you inspired:
This works because it offers a nice balance between description and information. You know what the post will be about, but it's presented in an interesting way that makes you want to read more.
It’s easy to overdo descriptive language, however. Sprinkle in a bit here and there, and don’t get too carried away with the adjectives.
4. Avoid Word and Phrase Repetition
Your readers don’t want the ramblings of a robot. Instead, they want a flowing and articulate piece that gets your point across while still keeping them interested. This is where word variation comes in.
Take this for example:
Jane likes to sing. Jane sings all day. Jane even sings in her sleep.
Not only are the words “Jane” and “sing” both repeated three times, but the three sentences also have a similar structure.
Now, try this:
Jane likes to sing. She sings all day long, even as she sleeps.
While neither of these examples are masterpieces, the second one is clearly better. Why? Because pronouns have been utilized (“she” in place of “Jane”) and the sentence structure has been varied to avoid repetition.
To make things a bit complicated, there is a way to do word repetition right. However, in general, you should be careful to avoid repetition, both with your word choice and sentence structure.
5. Ask Readers to Participate
It’s very likely that during a live conversation, you wouldn’t just talk and talk; instead, you’d engage in a back-and-forth with your partner. Even though blogging can often feel like a one-way platform, there are ways to converse with your readers. This is especially true if you're willing to keep the conversation going in the comments section and on social media.
Neil Patel uses a conversational tactic in the majority of his blog posts, asking his readers direct questions at the end:
This is a simple trick, and it offers a casual way to connect with your readers.
Getting started isn't hard, especially if you follow Neil’s lead. To begin, add questions to the end of your blog posts. These are known as comment calls-to-action, and they put the ball in the reader’s court.
6. Break the Rules
Grammar rules are there for a reason, but as the old adage goes, “Rules are meant to be broken.” While you don’t want to go too crazy, breaking these rules can sometimes help to get your point across. It can also make it appear as if you’re having a casual conversation with a friend.
Here's a subheading example, seen over on Lincoln Murphy's site Sixteen Ventures:
This works because he's still telling his readers what they need to know, but he's doing so in an informal way.
To get started, you could use slang words and shortened versions of common phrases. You might even find it suits your style to throw in a sentence-ending preposition or two. But remember – don't go overboard.
Conclusion
Personality is such a large part of who you are, and it’s time to incorporate that part of yourself into your work. Not only will this build connections with your readers and make you stand out in your niche, but it will also make writing so much more enjoyable.
In this post, we’ve provided you with six great tips to help you add personality to your blog posts. To recap, here’s what you can do:
- Include relevant anecdotes.
- Add a touch of humor.
- Use descriptive language.
- Avoid word and phrase repetition.
- Ask readers to participate.
- Break the rules.
Are you struggling to add personality to your own blog posts? Let us know in the comments section below!
What's next ?
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Image credits: Pixabay.
Very good thanks Matt