*Why* Write Like You Speak?

First off, when I say "write like you speak," I don't mean slurred words (like "gonna" instead of "going to") or the use of slang or "jive" or whatever you wanna (oops, I mean "want to") call it.

What I mean is that, if you *say* it in a simple, natural, conversational way, there's really no reason (usually) to *write* it much differently. Your purpose is always to communicate clearly.

That's worth repeating: your purpose is to communicate clearly. Remember -- no one ever, ever, ever complains that a piece of writing is "too clear."

If there's any quasi-exception here, it's when you consider the nuances of *audience*. If you're writing to the CEO of your company, more than likely tone and word choice are going to differ from what you'd write to your old college roommate. That's just common sense, right!

Also, if you happen to know that your reader (let's take the example of the CEO just mentioned) doesn't care for contractions, then you'd be wise to avoid them. Notice in the preceding sentence, I used three contractions: "let's," "doesn't", and "you'd."

Speaking of contractions, let's (let us?) take a look at them next. Stay tuned...