I’ve been paying attention to how everyone from clients to clergy and teachers to toddlers communicate. And one thing I’ve noticed is that those who incorporate a personal story (theirs or someone else’s) capture — and retain — their audience’s interest.

Telling a personal story (and by personal, I mean sharing an experience related to what’s being shared with the audience) helps create an emotional connection between you and your audience. It puts your message into context but it does so in a way that’s relevant, engaging and memorable to the reader or listener.

Need some inspiration for how to infuse a little human interest into your copy? Read a newspaper, listen to a sermon, visit with a former soldier, or ask a child what they want to be when they grow up and why.

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While I’m a proponent of proper punctuation and a serious stickler about spelling, I also know that conversational copy is a much more compelling read.

If you’ve been stuck in the world of long, complex sentences, it’s time for a change. And, conversely, if you’ve been writing like you’re texting your BFF instead of talking with your customers, throw in an actual sentence now and then.

The combination of varying sentence lengths and types will mimic real-life dialogue, making your copy not only more fun to read but also worth the time it takes to read it.

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I consider it my job to help my clients understand their audience. I like to challenge them with thought provokers that I hope will forever change the way they communicate — or even think about communicating — with their audience.

Here’s the question I ask and the one I hope you’ll start asking yourself or your corporate writers:

“Is this what you want to say or is this what your audience wants to hear?”

Remember, it’s not their job to hear you, it’s your job to reach and connect with them.

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I’m feeling a bit snarky today so rather than fight it, I’m just going to embrace it.

I get snarky when the sun doesn’t shine enough, when people say one thing and do another, and whenever I hear someone whine.

Especially when I hear the whine.

Like the little girl in the post office the other day who kept demanding things unreasonably and disrespectfully of her mother who, of all things, gave in each and every time. Like the customer service person who talks about “them” in the order entry department as if they’re from another world instead of the same company. Like the grocery store clerk who goes on and on about how he has to work a whole four-hour shift and whine, blah, blah, blah, whine, without so much as a hello to, ahem, the customer.

See. Told you I was snarky.

What makes me even snarkier is when I hear four famous little words … “It’s not our fault.”

Oh, you don’t even have to hear those words verbatim to “hear” them, if you know what I mean. Plenty of companies imply it in their copy (ah, finally, the copy connection).

Here are some of the words, phrases and practices that scream “It’s not our fault …”

• But …
• We reserve the right to …
• Unless …
• Until …
• Restocking fee
• Saying you have a 100% return guarantee but then forcing your customer to take a merchandise exchange

Playing the blame game in any way does nothing to create relationship, dialogue or loyalty with your audience.

Instead, take a customer service cue from online shoe seller Zappos.com who happily refunds your purchase price and ships to and from for free. Or from online cosmetics giant Sephora.com who cheerfully and promptly replaces or refunds merchandise — no questions asked.

Good customer service words, phrases and practices include:

• Free
• Guaranteed
• No questions asked
• Just for you … (or any variation of “exclusively for you”)
• Being clear about what you will do and then doing it — whether it’s making a return, calling back within a certain time or sending an email when out-of-stock merchandise is back in stock

That kind of service — and copy — says it all.

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