Now you can build your own labs in the Custom Lab Builder, we thought we’d provide some guidance on writing with a strong tone of voice to ensure your labs are as engaging as possible.

This blog is the third in a series on making the most of the Lab Builder, looking at what we call the Four Cs. Ensuring your writing is…

• Conversational
• Concise
• Conscious
• Consistent

The previous two posts looked at accessibility and inclusivity. This post focuses on tone of voice and how to write authentically to ensure your audience engages with the lab and remembers the message you’re trying to teach them.

Writing well 

For most of your life, you’ve probably been told to write properly. Avoid contractions at all costs. Use complex sentences with plenty of fancy connecting words like “furthermore” and “moreover”. And never start a sentence with “and”.

This formal style works really well for some industries. Academia is traditionally an incredibly formal area when it comes to the written word, as is the broadsheet newspaper realm. This is often to reflect the work’s sincerity, to avoid weakening a writer’s reputation, and to present ideas consistently and objectively.

But Immersive Labs believes writing can be sincere and objective without being so... dull!

Be conversational

Copywriting is increasingly conversational, appearing everywhere from LinkedIn posts to the back of your milk carton. This style engages readers by feeling personal and authentic, aligning with Richard Mayer’s Personalization Principle, that people learn more deeply when words are conversational rather than formal.

A human-to-human copywriting style makes sense for Immersive Labs, as we’re all about focusing on the humans behind the screens. When using the Lab Builder, we recommend writing your labs in an engaging, approachable style to create a modern, user-friendly learning environment.

But conversational doesn’t mean sloppy. It’s about presenting ideas clearly and confidently, helping users feel at ease while they learn.

Use everyday, concrete language

Using fancy, complex words doesn’t make content better – it can actually distract readers and undermine clarity. Instead, prioritize clear, straightforward language to ensure your message is easy to understand, especially by users with cognitive disabilities.

Avoid overly poetic phrases, figures of speech, idioms, or ambiguous language, which can confuse or overwhelm readers, including those with autism spectrum conditions. Strive for clarity to help users grasp your message the first time, keeping their needs front and centre.

Address the reader

Authenticity is all about gaining your reader’s trust. We recommend speaking directly to them in your custom labs by using “you” throughout your copy.

This handy trick also avoids any ambiguity when it comes to practical tasks. Take the following example.

“In this lab, the machine must be analyzed and IoCs must be extracted.”

Instead of being vague and passive, we recommend talking directly to the reader and telling them exactly what they need to do.

“In this lab, you need to analyze the machine and extract IoCs.”

Or better yet, you can be even more direct by cutting that down even further:

“In this lab, analyze the machine and extract IoCs.”

Our labs and scenarios frequently talk directly to the reader. Users are more likely to stay engaged when they’re spoken to, not at.

Use contractions

Contractions instantly make your writing more conversational by mimicking natural speech. Combining words like "it is" to "it’s" or "you are" to "you’re" adds a touch of informality that feels approachable and inclusive.

While once discouraged in formal writing, contractions are ideal for a modern learning environment, making text easier to read, understand, and remember.

Be concise

Writing in plain language is good for all users, but can make a massive difference for neurodivergent users, those who struggle to focus, those who hyperfocus, or maybe those who find reading difficult.

We follow recommendations from the Advonet Group, the British Dyslexia Association, and Clark and Mayer’s Coherence Principle to ensure accessibility for a diverse audience – and you should too!

Writing simply and clearly doesn’t mean trivializing content or sacrificing accuracy; it just makes your message easier to understand. After all, no one's ever complained that something's too easy to read!

The difficulty comes when balancing this with technical content. How can you make advanced, complex cybersecurity topics clear and concise?

Keep it short and sweet

Sentences longer than 20 words become difficult to understand and can detract from the point being made. It’s easy for people’s minds to wander, so get to your point in as few words as possible.

The same goes for paragraphs. Try and avoid long, dense walls of text. Nobody wants to read that, and it’s no good when thinking about accessibility. Keep your paragraphs to four or five lines, maximum.

Get to the point

Avoid adding unnecessary side notes to your labs, as they can distract from the main message and make learning harder. 

Unnecessary content distracts the learner’s attention from the main message, making them less likely to remember the core topic. It disrupts the connections between key messages and diverts the learner’s focus, making it harder to piece together the bigger picture. 

This is all down to cognitive load theory, which says that in general, humans can handle around four pieces of new information at any one time. To help users focus, stick to the lab's core topic and avoid overloading them with unrelated details.

TL;DR

When writing your labs with the Custom Lab Builder, ensure all your text is conversational to engage your users with the topic. And also make all your copy as concise as possible. Getting your message across in as few words as possible will reduce cognitive overload, boredom, and frustration.

By focusing on being conversational, as well as being consistent and conscious (as we covered in the previous blog posts in this series), your readers will engage with your content better, remember the topic, and be able to put it into practice more easily – improving their cybersecurity knowledge and driving their cyber resilience.

Share your thoughts!

What do you think about these tone of voice tips when writing your custom labs? Have you tried to write your labs in a conversational yet concise way, and how did this go down with your users?

Do you have any other suggestions for the community on how to write conversationally? We’d love to hear from you!