Lesson 18: Your Reading Voice

Lesson 18:
Use Your Voice

In Lesson 18, you learned:

 How to make your writing sound like a natural conversation.

 How to hear voices in your head – and make your ideal reader hear them too.
 How to engage your ideal reader with writing that speaks directly to him.

This worksheet will help you put your new knowledge into practice. Print it out and use it
immediately for tangible results.

You'll also want to print a copy of this worksheet and keep it handy in a folder, as you may
need it later in the course.

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 Lesson 18: Your Reading Voice

R
eading your work aloud is extremely valuable, and you should never underestimate its
powerful ability to make your writing sound natural, genuine and authentic. In other
words, don't skip this step. Ever. :)

You can read your work aloud at different times in the writing phase, and it'll definitely improve
your writing overall, but you should always read your work aloud at least once in the final
phase, just before you consider it done. Consider it the spit and polish that makes your writing
shine.

Step 1: First Read-Through

Read your work aloud at your natural pace and in your natural speaking voice. Don't rush
through it, and speak calmly.

Never whisper or mutter, and never just silently run through it in your mind. Pretend you're
speaking to a person who is standing right in front of you.

Don't stop, pause, or try to fix or edit anything. You may want to, but just listen for now, and
keep reading. If you notice a rough spot, a typo, or a trippy phrase in an awkward sentence,
mark the spot with an X and keep going.

Step 2: Second Read-Through

Read the piece aloud a second time, and pause after each sentence. Think specifically about
improvements:

 Are there any Xs you marked in Step 1 that need correcting?

 Did a tricky phrase trip you up? How can you smooth it out?
 Is the sentence too short or too long? How would you rewrite it?
 Are there words you could replace that would make the sentence "feel" better?
 Are there any typos or missing punctuation?

Edit each sentence after you read it aloud. Edit only the sentence – don't worry about how it
fits into the whole piece.

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 Lesson 18: Your Reading Voice

Step 3: Third Read-Through

Read your work aloud a third time. This time, read each full paragraph, then pause, thinking
about how the paragraph sounds, reads and "feels".

You should already notice a big improvement in how the piece reads compared to your original
first run-through, but there may be leftover bits and pieces that still don't sound quite right.

Fix them up, then move on.

The Final Step

This is your last run. Read your piece through entirely, top to bottom, without pausing, and
speaking aloud at your natural pace and usual tone of voice.

There probably won't be any corrections to make in the content by this point, but if you notice
any final tiny tweaks, go ahead and fix them up.

This is the "ego" step, because as you read, your brain will be enjoying itself. Your writing
sounds natural and smooth, like a genuine conversation, thanks to the read-throughs and
corrections you made. You'll feel a sense of pride growing as you read – a firm "this is GOOD"
feeling.

Here's a bonus: This entire exercise helps your brain take subconscious note of the changes
you've made, and it'll better learn what makes for good writing. Through observation, you'll
improve your writing skills, and the final read-through that leaves you feeling proud reinforces
your internal validation.

Your shitty first drafts will become less shitty. Your writing will sound better and better over
time. Your brain eventually comes to know what good writing looks like from all your read-
aloud practice, and it'll begin incorporating more of that good writing style from the get go.

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