Stop Being So Formal In Your Messages Because

A lot of college admissions and marketing professionals continue to tell me some version of the following:

Gen Z has a low attention span and that’s a big reason why they don’t read all the emails we send.

Whenever I hear that – including this past week – I push back. I would argue that a young person's attention span has actually evolved to be more selective because of the amount of information being delivered to them on a daily basis. Psychologists and cognitive researchers also argue this same point.

When your messaging is overly formal and polished, students say it feels fake, generic, and boring, all of which add up to “Why bother, it’s not worth my time.”

Add to that the speed at which AI is developing and you’re dealing with a generation of students who are very skeptical.

So what do they want?

This generation wants a message that sounds, in a word, “human.” Another student said it this way “Just talk to us like we’re your friend.”

Your language and tone should be casual and conversational, and the message should feel natural to read. Yes I just gave you permission to start a sentence with the word and or because, use the occasional … in your message, or have a run-on sentence because that’s what most humans tend to do.

Remember, this generation has grown up entirely on short-form communication.

The more conversational you are, the better chance you stand of creating a faster and more genuine connection. To be clear, I did not just give you permission to use a whole bunch of Gen Z slang words in your message :) You don’t need to do that.

If you’re worried that being more conversational will make you come across as unprofessional, it won’t. Instead you will be more relatable and believable which is what the majority of your audience needs if they’re going to pay attention and take action. I want you to meet them where they are.

Here's another benefit: The friendlier, more relaxed, and more relatable you consistently sound, when you ask one of the dozens of questions I’ve shared in other articles, you’ll increase your chances of getting a response.

The next time you get ready to send a message I encourage you to read it out loud first and ask yourself, “Does this sound like a real person wrote it?”

You’ll be glad you did.

HAVE YOU HEARD?

Leadership, confidence, being adaptable, failure, managing stress, and time management are just some of the recent topics that I’ve covered on my Mission Admissions podcast. All 90 episodes are free and can be found on Apple and Spotify.