5 quick tricks to find your tone of voice
I get it. If you’re a company of one, brand tone of voice can feel like a salad spinner. A bit fancy, great if you’ve got one, but not something you’d prioritise. Also, as it’s just you, isn’t your brand voice just…you sitting down and writing something?
Not quite. You see, brand voice when done with intention is consistent from day to day. It means that even without your face or logo at the top, your customers know it’s you. It can even align to your business goals and make them easier to achieve. That’s why finding and sticking to your brand voice is well worth it. It will help you stand out in your industry. It will make you more appealing, trustworthy and memorable in the eyes of your customers.
A full brand voice development project involves linking up your style of communication to your business strategy. You go deep into understanding your customers, your competitors and your brand values to arrive at a voice that fits the bill and gets results.
But if you don’t have the time or budget, there are some quick tricks you can use to become more deliberate about your voice as you communicate for your business on the daily. These little habits take no time but will help you begin to develop your tone of voice and create consistency in your communication.
It will also mean that when you do come to formalise your tone of voice (for example, when you want to hire a social media manager or content writer to write posts in your voice), you’ve already got a head start.
1. Write more
You don’t have to write a novel. Simply writing every day is a great way to develop your voice and sound more like yourself. Your social media, blog posts and even emails are an opportunity to stretch your legs and find what fits. The secret is to be intentional. Stop after everything you’ve written and assess: does this sound like my brand? How can I dial up the personality?
2. Keep a copy bank
When you strike gold, when you write something that feels right, copy and paste it into a document. This is now your copy bank. Next time you’re struggling to write, you’ll have a catalogue of strong copy to inspire you.
It could be a sentence or phrase, or even just a word that feels ‘you’. Over time, you’ll build up a picture of sentence types and word families that suit your brand, making it easier and easier to sprinkle a bit of you over everything you write.
3. Say it out loud
If you’re struggling over a sentence that keeps coming out sounding wooden and false, put the pen (keyboard) down for a sec. Instead, try explaining your point out loud into the voice recorder on your phone. Transcribe the result. You should have something that feels more human, more you. You’ll need to tidy up the language, maybe make the sentence shorter, as we’re naturally more wordy when we speak. But it should give your sentence a more genuine feel.
4. Put your goals in plain sight
Do you know how you want people to perceive your brand? Maybe it’s creative, upbeat and optimistic? Or clear, accurate and sophisticated? Yes, you can – and one day will – spend lots of time carefully crafting your brand identity, but until then, put a few ideas on a Post-it and stick it on the screen where you write. It will help you keep those ideals in mind and make sure they permeate everything you put out there.
5. Get in the zone
Many of us (myself included) are guilty of reading so much of other people’s amazing work that when it comes to writing for ourselves we feel a bit lost. You end up sounding like a little bit of everyone and diluting your own voice.
It’s great to read and be inspired by other people, but when it comes time to write for your business, take a few minutes to get into your zone. Listen to a favourite song that conjures up your business persona. Open up that copy bank.
If your brand is bubbly and optimistic, and you’ve woken up feeling the weight of the world is on your shoulders, maybe wait until you’re feeling better to post. I’m not saying you should hide the truth from your audience (brands can have light and shade), but you don’t want to alienate your readers or break their trust with something that’s way out of character. Step away from the socials and come back to it later.
Any other tips you use for writing more like you? Let me know in the comments.
Chat to me on LinkedIn, I’d love to know your thoughts.