Whether you’re crafting new content so your audiences will bite (and hang on), creating eLearning training programs for your internal teams, or adding more energy to your client’s existing projects and online communities, you’ll want to boost your credibility with every word you choose.

Keeping the conversation going is mission critical as you build team cohesion, ensure info comprehension, or promote new squads of brand ambassadors. And, even more importantly, people need to believe what you’re asking them to take on. They need to know that their content source is credible, ethical, and reliable. Consider these tips to make sure your written messages—and you— are just that!

#1: Be consistent in your messaging. Stay focused on brief chunks of content so audiences won’t get distracted or lose the main thread of the information you’re imparting.

#2: Be objective with a neutral tone throughout your content presentation. Sure, you can (and should!) showcase passion and interest in your writing to keep your audiences interested but you probably don’t want to incite a riot by being controversial when you’re just trying to get your eLearning community to understand new material. 

#3: Be clear by offering simple directions for online tasks including chat or discussion prompts, exercises, and case studies. When organizing written material, consider offering section (or chapter/unit) agendas and recaps for added learning tools that spark interest and help people retain info.

#4: Be compelling and pose intriguing, relevant questions that enable a deeper dive for those who want it. Critical thinking is cool!

#5: Be relevant in all that you write. If there’s not an immediate practical application, then audiences are going to be stretched to see how the material benefits them, and might ultimately lose interest. When compelling content taps into real-world problem-solving that people can use in their work and daily lives, they’ll stick with it.

#6: Provide a unique POV. When positioning new material or taking on old issues,add a creative touch to inspire others. Illustrate your due diligence in fully researching the topics up for discussion or review by offering something fresh to consider. When you demonstrate that you’re invested in the material, you’ll give your audiences reasons to stay invested, too.

#7: Draw upon other field experts by using their quotes and examples that support the points you’re trying to make. This type of evidence gathering goes a long way.  

#8: Get visual. Provide more than mere words by includingfacts and data via infographics like tables, diagrams, graphs, or photos. Different learning types need different stimuli.

#9: Spark engagement through action-oriented asks. This one’s actually more than just language, but your words can creatively guide action. Choose language to clearly frame things to do immediately with the content provided. Use bold and vivid descriptions so people can see what you’re asking, and can visualize results. How to measure engagement? Your audiences can easily talk with one another (and you) via chat and discussion forums, as they collaborate via interesting team tasks and group projects.

Credible crafters of compelling online content = you got this