What Is a Written Voice?
If you couldn’t tell, I am fascinated with the written voice. It’s the cornerstone of the work I do for my clients. If you don’t know how to voice your writing, it’s important you learn.
Being able to capture your essence in writing, and then to connect that essence to your audience vulnerably? That’s the cornerstone of well-voiced writing. In turn, this voice creates a deep connection between your business and your audience.
There are many iterations of what a written voice consists of and it is a difficult thing to articulate. I like to think of a written voice as your personality jumping off of the page through your words.
For business, it’s being able to create that core personality through genuine and consistent content that reflects who you really are and what your business does.
Voice is the distinctive style or manner of expression of an author or narrator….voice is one of the most elusive yet important qualities in a piece of writing.
Why writing voice is important.
The most important thing your content can do for your business is helping it stand out.
If you can voice your writing, you can attract the right people to your audience who will more readily become your clients.
When you are expressing your words within the container of “true self”, you inevitably attract others who align with your values.
A strong written voice creates a boatload of trust and kinship before you ever have even one conversation with a potential client.
Use your content to leverage trust. If you are writing true to who you authentically are, people will already know you well and trust your business by the time they sign with you.
How to voice your writing.
Not gonna lie – it ain’t easy. I work with clients on the front end of their content creation strictly to identify and create their written voice. It’s an essential part of my business writing process that I couldn’t live without.
If I didn’t do this, I’d likely be churning out redundant, cliche-ridden crap for my clients that everyone else in their industry has already said, in the same ways they say it.
That being said, I’ll often have to convince people to stay true to their own strengths, their own real values, their own personalities, rather than mimic someone else’s. It can be very tempting to recreate what’s out there if it’s a good-sounding buzzword or catchphrase.
Even I have grappled with how to voice my own writing from time to time because it can be scary to wear your heart on your sleeve in the digital space. It’s something I consciously and consistently develop and tweak.
If you want to get better at creating content that is well voiced, here are some simple things that can help:
Write and write and write some more.
The more you write, the more practice you will get in developing your voice. And the more comfortable you will be publishing content that shows your vulnerability.
If you don’t have time to write, don’t like writing, or don’t know what to write, then voicing is something you will never master. You are better off hiring a professional content writer to help you voice your writing.
Plan it out.
For most of us, voicing our writing is not an overnight process. Planning and clarifying your business purpose, unique value and key messages will strengthen and define your voice’s presence. Knowing these things will help you frame your tone, your style and personal attributes that make you and your story unique.
You can add elements to your voice over time as they are uncovered. Even if you don’t hire a professional, it is still important to have a purposeful, thought-out approach to voice your writing that’s based on that clarity.
Be vulnerable.
A lot can be said for SEO, algorithms and Adwords. But nothing, and I mean NOTHING will resonate more with people than when you can provoke emotion through genuine thoughts in writing. As Maya Angelou famously said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
If you can take what you offer in business, explain it clearly and then connect that to real emotion, you have will have created a business writing masterpiece.
My personal motto is this: If what you have written scares you, publish it. It may not be liked, agreed upon or accepted by everyone. But that should never be your goal in writing or in your business.
You have a niche market, likely built around your own values and goals and you need to convey those things in a way that speaks to those people. You need to be you in as wholly a way you can be.
While I don’t promise these tips to be easy, I do believe they are effective.
If you want to improve your content even more you can take the Energetic Marketing Type Quiz and learn how to market your business more easily and effectively using the principles of your unique type.
