How to Write a Tweet – The 4 points that engage Roy Peter Clark plus a few Writing Tips from Social Media Experts

I just finished listening to Mitch Joel interviewing Roy Peter Clark today.

Roy Peter Clark has been called “America’s Writing Coach”. He is the senior scholar and vice president of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a journalism think-tank in St. Petersburg, Florida , and according to Wikipedia (link below), is the founder of the National Writers Workshop.

Mr. Clark explains when he looks at the tweets of writers he most follows, whether for entertainment or education, their prose seem to have the same clarity, the same power and ingenuity that he attaches to longer forms of writing. He’s not saying it’s the same but you can look at a tweet and ask yourself, “Why am I reading this tweet?”

The four points that engage him when he reads twitter posts are:

1. It has focus.
2. It’s something sharp and singular.
3. Has whit, not necessarily funny but with a governing intelligence behind it.
4. It has polish. It looks like somebody looked it over more than once and didn’t just dump it online.

A few Twitter Tips from Social Media Experts

Here are a few tips I picked up from Internet marketers and Social Media Experts such as my Social Media mentor, Matt Astifan. When they talking about how to write a good Tweet they encourage people to “create engagement” and “start conversations” with their audience. This includes:

• Sharing your opinions and asking your audience for theirs.
• Asking thought provoking questions, which can be a good way to get feedback and start conversations or comment threads, especially if the questions are about timely topics or current events.
• Sharing interesting and relevant facts and information of value.
• Promote passively, It is generally agreed that promoting and asking for a sale in all your tweets will cause people to disengage and even unfollow you. Always be aware of your USP, unique selling proposition, and promote passively as a consistent reinforcement to support your brand and USP.
• Once-in a-while, make a clear offer or statement about your USP to assure your audience understands what you do and doesn’t forget it.
• Never criticize others or complain. This one reminds me of the Buddhist story about the boy who said something he regretted and wanted to take back. The boy consulted a monk who instructed the him to pour all of the feathers out of his pillow. The feathers floated all over the yard and far beyond. The boy look at the monk and asked, “Now what?”. The monk replied, “Now put all the feathers back into the pillowcase”.

Your perfect twitter writing package

If you keep these tactics combined with Mr. Clark’s insights listed above, wrapped with your own unique character and style, you will have good packaging for some engaging and meaningful tweets. Most of these tips can also carry over to other forms of Social Media writing.

Happy, engaging and prosperous tweeting to you!

Bernie

Links and resources:

Roy Peter Clark’s Twitter: @RoyPeterClark

Learn more about Roy Peter Clark or buy his books on Amazon “How to Write Short” and other books by Roy Peter Clark or visit his Wikipedia page.

(yes, the amazon link is my affiliate link. Thanks for using it)

Mitch Joel’s Twist Image Podcast

Web Friendly Twitter Matt Astifan : @MattsMedia