How to Stand Out in a Sea of Grey Content

31 Articles on Finding Your Writing Voice

A strong voice helps your content stand out; it pulls reader closer to you because they feel like they know you.

When they read your emails, blog posts, or sales pages, it’s like they hear your voice.

What is a writer’s voice?

When reading, we get a sense of a writer’s personality. This is what we refer to as voice. Word choice, sentence length, and rhythm help define your voice.

Strictly speaking, voice is not the same as tone. Just like when you talk, the tone of your writing can vary depending on your mood and your audience. A press release for a new product, for instance, brims with enthusiasm and excitement, while an email apologizing for a service disruption is more humble. The tone is different, but the voice remains the same.

A brand voice is the sense of personality or company culture we notice in the communication from one company. It’s like the collective voice of everyone representing the brand, and it’s often referred to as tone of voice.

While a writer’s voice usually evolves organically, a brand voice is carefully planned and described in its brand guidelines.

Check these 4 examples of strong voices in business writing.

How to find your voice

Your writing voice evolves (1) by imitating your heroes, (2) by finding out what resonates with your audience, and (3) by nurturing a sense of play.

Learn more in these three articles:

• Imitate: Steal and swipe to create your own unique blogging voice
• Craft messages that resonate: Why you should stop searching for your authentic voice
• Nurture a sense of play: 3 creative writing exercises to put that zing-kapow in boring business content

The key elements of a writer’s voice

Does developing your voice sound difficult?

It doesn’t have to be.

Once you understand which writing techniques influence your voice, it becomes easier to play with your words and discover your writing voice.

Learn more in the articles below.

On choosing words:

• Word choice: How word choice shapes your voice
• Power words: 172+ magic words as proven by science
• Strong verbs: 99 strong verbs to make your content pop, fizz and sparkle
• Weak words: Spice up bland content by replacing these 4 types of weak words
• Gobbledygook: How to write gobbledygook-free content
• Clichés: Avoid the destructive power of clichés
• Sensory words: Arouse the magic of sensory words (even in business writing!)

On rhythm:

• Rhythm: Make your words swing and swirl
• Punctuation: How punctuation influences your writing voice

On visual language:

• Metaphors: Use the persuasive power of metaphors
• 14 metaphor examples: How to paint vibrant pictures with your words
• Vivid language: How to make your message memorable [case study]
• Descriptive writing: How to describe anything with oodles of personality

On poetic techniques for business writing:

• Contrast: The gigantic power of a tiny word trick
• Rule of three: Invoke the ‘magic of 3’ in serious business writing
• Repetition in writing: How to make your writing resonate like music

On business storytelling:

• Business founding story: Energize your audience with your mission
• 3-act stories: This simple 3-act business story will do your selling for you
• Storytelling in blog posts: Add sparkle and delight readers in 150 words or less
• Personal stories: Captivate business readers with personal stories (even if you’re shy)
• Hook readers: Keep readers engaged with one-sentence cliffhangers
• Story pacing: A 5-minute guide to fast-paced storytelling
• Success stories: How to write an inspirational success story, without bragging
• Memorable stories: How a gleaming detail makes your story (and your message) unforgettable
• Show, Don’t Tell: How to turn bland sentences in an enthralling, full-color story

Specific advice on different writing styles

Would you like your voice to sound a little warmer or more conversational? Or perhaps more authoritative?

Check the articles below and learn specific techniques for adapting your writing style.

• Powerful: 5 ways to make your words more powerful and get readers to listen, act and buy
• Conversational: Write conversational content and make your readers deliriously happy
• Passionate: Write with so much passion that readers beg to hire you
• Compassionate: Infuse your writing with warmth, hope and kindness
• Inspirational: Mix power and warmth to make your writing inspirational
• Write like Hemingway: Enchant readers with simple language
• Tone in writing: 5 Techniques to Engage, Touch, and Energize Your Readers

Become a voice of authority in your industry

Do regular readers know what you stand for? Do your ideas pull your readers closer to you?

Having a strong voice is not just about how you write, it’s also about developing your ideas and the themes in your work.

• Become influential: No authority yet? Here’s a 5-step plan to become seriously influential online
• Be interesting: How to be interesting even when your life seems boring
• Boring topics: 4 ways to add pizzazz to dull and rehashed topics
• Uniqueness: How to be unique even if you don’t feel special

Want to build a thriving blog community? And turn readers into fans? Learn how to engage and delight readers, so they’re begging for more.