Give it personality ─ how to write for public consumption

By Wayne Rothe, CFP

I always try to make every article I write relevant to current financial issues. I also try to inform readers so they can take away something practical that can help them improve their financial situation. More than that, I try to insert some personality into what I write. I use human interest and real-life examples. I’ve used things my children say to introduce a topic, but more often I use actual clients as examples or things clients say to add some personality to an article (anonymously, of course).Whenever I start a topic, I always ask myself what I can do to make the article compelling.

My best writing gigs are the columns I write for a couple of local newspapers. I say they’re my best gigs because it’s local and it is my client and local residents who read them. It’s great exposure in my community. Very few CFP professionals do this because it’s difficult to write well. Editors generally don’t want this kind of material. That’s partly because people who are professionals in one area are usually poor writers. My journalism background helped me to land this column, which I’ve been doing now for about 12 years. It’s brought me quite a number of clients.

Most important to me is that my articles stand out as being different from anything else that is published. Anyone can write about RRSP rules, for example, but it’s much more difficult to write in an interesting, engaging style.