Do you want to get readers to take action? Use active voice when you write!

I’ve written several For Dummies books and the editors there drummed a few principles into me about writing. One was to use active voice and avoid passive voice.

Interestingly, I discovered that many writers don’t understand the difference — especially when writing about technical subjects.

So, I thought I’d show you some examples of sentences in passive and active voice and I think that you’ll be able to see the difference for yourself.

You can use these principles for blog posts, sales pages, emails, and even webinar scripts — wherever you write.

Look at an example

Passive (twice): When the Pictures button is clicked, the Insert Pictures dialog box is opened.

Active: When you click the Pictures button, the Insert Pictures dialog box opens.

But the word “opens,” while technically active voice isn’t a very strong verb. So instead, you could rewrite the sentence this way:

Active: Click the Pictures button to open the Insert Pictures dialog box.

Here I’ve used the Command tense to make the sentence stronger. Now, you, the reader, are causing the opening of the dialog box; it doesn’t just happen. Can you feel how this version involves you more?

Here’s another example:

Passive: The quote could be formatted by simply typing it out, manually putting quotation marks around it and adding italics.

Active: You could format the quote by simply typing it out, manually putting quotation marks around it, and adding italics.

And another:

Passive: UNDERSTAND basic writing principles and how they are applied by experienced writers

Active: UNDERSTAND basic writing principles and how experienced writers apply them

One reason that active voice is more powerful is that it specifies who is doing the action. In passive voice, the result just happens.

One point to note is that you don’t have to be obsessive about getting rid of passive voice. Occasionally, it’s OK. But the for most part, you’ll discover that converting sentences from passive to active voice will make your writing more powerful.

How do I know when a sentence is passive voice?

Technically, passive voice occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. But that’s too hard to figure out.

Instead, an easier (partial) definition is that passive voice often uses the verb “to be.”

• In the phrase, “the button is clicked,” the word “is” gives you a clue that the phrase is in passive voice.
• In the phrase “could be formatted,” the word “be” makes it passive.
• In the phrase “they are applied,” the word “are” makes it passive

A more complete definition is that passive voice uses a past participle. In these examples, the past participles are clicked, formatted, and applied.

An example of passive voice without “to be” is, “The Hyperlink dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 2.” In this case “as shown in” uses passive voice. Even For Dummies books use that phrase!

To convert a passive sentence to active voice, figure out who is doing the acting. It can be a pronoun, such as “you” or “I.” If software is involved, you can anthropomorphize it, as in “When you click on the Pictures button, PowerPoint opens the Insert Picture dialog box.”

Don’t forget that many contractions contain the verb “to be.” For example, “they’re animated” is passive voice.

Use present tense as much as possible

Try to avoid future tense. For example:

When you click the Pictures button, the Insert Picture dialog box will open.

Instead, use present tense by changing “will open” to “opens.” This makes the writing seem more immediate, so it has a greater impact on the reader. In the same way, Command tense has a great impact; the reader is more inclined to act on the command.

Convert your sentences to active voice!

Go through some of your blog posts and website text to see if you can find passive voice. Convert it to active voice and see if it sounds better. Maybe you can convert some future tense to present tense and use Command tense a little more often. (You don’t want to sound too bossy.) Leave a comment with your before and after sentences!

Did you find a sentence that you couldn’t convert to active voice? Write it in a comment and I’ll try my hand at it! Go ahead, challenge me! (Command tense–did you notice?)