The Personalization Principle

The personalization principle states that a conversational writing style engages the learner.

An easy way to start using a conversational tone is by writing narration or text in second person. Using words like “you” and “your” can help the learner connect to the course content.

For example, easily turn the sentence “Working memory refers to the information a person consciously processes,” into second person by replacing the words “a person” with the word “you.”

The sentence becomes, “Working memory refers to the information you consciously process.”

This one simple change may be enough to make impersonal text engaging.

Using first-person to tell stories related to the topic can also be helpful and engage the learner.

Even difficult topics such as sexual harassment, substance abuse, domestic violence, suicide, and grief can be written in a conversational and professional way.

Consider an interview between yourself and a hiring manager or a conversation between a doctor and a deceased patient’s family. While these discussions are professional, they are also a personal conversation.

The learning experiences you design should imitate this personal professionalism.

While the goal is to be conversational and polite, understand that this is not the same as being unprofessional. Providing feedback that reads, “Yo, dude! You got that answer right-o!” is rarely appropriate.

However, a personalized, yet professional tone goes a long way to engaging the learner.

ASK YOURSELF

• Is on-screen text and narration conversational and polite?
• Is information written in second-person with words like “you” and “your?”