More On Voice
Last week, I wrote about voice in your business writing, and held up Michael Katz of Blue Penguin Development and Sarah Palin as both having distinctive voices (albeit very different). Voice is writing tone that displays a definite and well-defined personality.
I’ve received requests to provide a few more examples, so here they are:
Andy Rooney uses his matter-of-fact voice to convey incredulity. The late John O’Donohue interwove academic discourse and personal imagery to evoke his personal belief in every day spiritual wonder.
A.C. Kemp’s literary alter ego, Lady Arabella Snark, oozes a mean but well-defined personality when she advises in “The Perfect Insult” against entertaining, noting it gives you nothing but an empty liquor cabinet:
“Guests do not come to your home because they like you. They come because they are hoping that if they drain enough tiki glasses filled with Mai Tais, going home with their own spouse will seem marginally less objectionable than driving their car into a tree,” she explains, adding snidely, “Due to the alcoholic content of Mai Tais, these two events sometimes overlap.”
In contrast, Michael Katz of Blue Penguin Development emits authenticity and humor in his business writing.
Good business writing needs to be clear. It also should reflect your natural and authentic “voice” – the tone that reveals the writer’s personality to the reader. Many business writers hide behind business-speak, but that is a mistake. Your own personality should shine through your business writing to engage a reader, because it makes your writing immediate, interesting and relevant.
However, don’t take it too far, and lapse into overly conversational or colloquial or sloppy writing. No kidding, here is an example from a text message received by a marketing manager from her employee this morning:
“Emily, got da box, tks ur da best”
Voice in business writing is critical: authenticity will always engage a reader across long-term communications. The writing lesson here is to match your natural voice with your message’s audience and goal – making certain it makes sense.
