Write Like You Speak
Loosen formal habits and tell written stories in your natural voice
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 94%
The method uses a writer's spoken storytelling as a diagnostic and drafting model. First, the writer explains the subject aloud in the relaxed language, rhythm, and sequence that would hold another person's attention. The draft then preserves that natural movement rather than translating it into unnecessarily formal prose. Reading the result aloud exposes sentences that feel strained, overloaded, or unlike the writer's actual voice. Revision removes stiffness while retaining factual precision, structure, and appropriate seriousness. The aim is not careless writing or literal transcription of every verbal habit. It is to stop treating written form as a different personality. By reducing self-conscious performance, the writer gains fluidity, authenticity, and a voice that readers can recognize.
Origin
Duff McDonald said his brother gave him this advice while McDonald was preparing to write The Golden Passport, helping him loosen his prose and trust his natural storytelling voice.
Core principles
- 01Natural speech reveals an authentic voice
- 02Overcontrol makes prose strained
- 03Written form need not erase conversational energy
- 04Serious work can still sound relaxed
How to run it
- 1
Tell the story aloud
Explain the subject as if speaking to an interested person who knows little about it. Notice the order, language, and emphasis that arise naturally.
Pro tip Record the explanation so useful phrasing is not lost.
Watch out Do not read from existing notes; the goal is to hear your spontaneous voice.
- 2
Identify the natural structure
Mark the hook, key turns, examples, and conclusion that made the spoken version understandable.
Pro tip Pay attention to where your energy rises because those moments may deserve emphasis in the draft.
Watch out Spontaneity does not remove the need for a coherent argument.
- 3
Draft conversationally
Write the material using the directness and rhythm of the spoken explanation while preserving accuracy.
Pro tip Imagine addressing one intelligent reader rather than an abstract audience.
Watch out Do not reproduce filler words or unclear digressions simply because they occurred in speech.
- 4
Read the draft aloud
Listen for sentences that feel stiff, breathless, performative, or unlike anything you would naturally say.
Pro tip Mark every place where you stumble or instinctively substitute different wording.
Watch out Silent rereading can conceal awkward rhythm.
- 5
Edit for natural precision
Replace strained constructions with direct language while checking that facts and distinctions remain intact.
Pro tip Prefer the simplest accurate phrase that still sounds like you.
Watch out Natural voice is not permission to sacrifice evidence or precision.
- 6
Respect necessary constraints
Adapt the voice to the publication and audience without surrendering its essential clarity and personality.
Pro tip Distinguish genuine audience needs from inherited habits of unnecessary formality.
Watch out Some formats require terminology or conventions that conversational prose cannot replace.
In the wild
An author explains a historical figure's influence to a family member and notices that the spoken version is vivid, direct, and easy to follow while the manuscript is dense and formal. The author rebuilds the chapter around the spoken sequence, then restores citations and necessary detail during revision.
→ The chapter retains its research depth but becomes more fluid and engaging.
A financial writer records a three-minute explanation of a complicated market event before drafting. The writer uses the recording's opening question and concrete example, then edits the article for accuracy and concision before reading it aloud once more.
→ Readers receive a technically sound explanation that feels direct rather than institutional.
Common mistakes
Transcribing speech verbatim
Natural writing borrows the clarity and rhythm of speech; it does not preserve every filler, repetition, or digression.
Trying to sound important
Inflated language can hide the writer's real voice and make a clear idea feel labored.
Using voice as an excuse
Authenticity does not remove obligations to verify facts, organize the argument, and edit carefully.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for writers who tell engaging stories aloud but lose that energy on the page.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for legal, technical, or regulated documents that require rigid terminology and formality.
From the transcript
“you should write less like you currently right and more like you speak.”
“Loosen the grip, yeah, and and uh more natural, sound more natural?”
“tell stories the way you tell stories”
From the episode
Duff McDonald: How To Fix the Broken Elite Institutions