Why Your High School English Teacher Was Wrong…
…And why you should have gotten an A instead of that C-.
While recollecting the pain and agony of English class I realize how bad wrong my educators were at seeing the totality of educating and preparing future sales and marketing reps for the digital world that was soon approaching. Obviously they did teach me how to put together half decent sentences and grammar that at least is good enough to not to always get the green underline from Microsoft Word.
As I took the stroll down memory lane for writing and text communication I remember very strongly getting the reprimand and the classic bright red tipped felt pen marks and circles for addressing the reader by using “you”, “your” and”you’re”.
Back then, using the “you-Orentation” was a huge no-no, and I was never educated on proper times and uses for “you-Orentation”. One of the best books I have read on Copy-writing has been “The Copywriter’s Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells” Which you can Pick up at your local Barns and Noble or online of course. In my PPC, SEM, Text Ads field I have to make relevant ad copy that grabs attention right off the bat in a fraction of a second even.
One of the most effective ways of doing that is appealing to the readers interests and emotions directly. After all, one of the points your copy should answer is the classic “What’s In It For Me” question your reader is thinking, By specifically answering this using “you”, “your” or “you’re”. Just imagine if the title of this post was “Why One’s High School English Teacher Was Wrong.” Obviously not nearly as attention grabbing.
I know I couldn’t really care less about someone else’s english teacher. But by making it personal with “your” that directly addresses my situation and sparks emotions from my past experiences. So, to all of us who were at the mercy of the red pen we can now rest assured that we are now justified in knowing deep down we were always right.
So true! I always write from the other person’s “what’s in it for me” perspective. In order to do that, using the word “you” is often necessary!!
As a university English professor, I just want to point out that most of the writing in school (especially university) is for an academic audience rather than the general public. Academics are supposed to be detached from their subject and look at everything as objectively as possible rather than trying to market to people. Since high school tends to prepare students for a university education (I talk about why I think this is wrong in a post on my blog), your teachers were right to tell you not to write “you,” “your,” or “you’re” because it’s not accepted in university. When it comes to writing for the general public though, you can’t (and shouldn’t) write like you’d write to an academic. Remember the first rule of writing: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE and write appropriately.
I totally agree, knowing your audience is the best way to write, but why aren’t both ways taught. A large population of students will not attend academics higher than high school, so an introduction into general publications should be taught as well.
FYI-Joseph is a High School Educator in the NC School system that also Has his masters in education. Thanks for the Comment Joseph!