We have all heard the term ‘blogger voice.’ In fact, some of us are still trying to find ours, some have embraced theirs and some are simply replicating others who have paved a path to success. But I wonder if our voice is truly carrying who we are or are we portraying a more reserved, polished version of ourselves for the outside world for the sake of appearing ‘professional’?
I am in the ‘still trying to find it’ bucket amongst many others. People have told me that I have found my voice and this blog speaks to that but I cannot help questioning myself sometimes (you do that too, right?). Then this week I saw Chris Brogan send a tweet asking if anyone would take business advice from someone that used the acronym ‘lol’. I was slightly taken aback because I use lol – a lot. LOL. And never thought anything of it.
Would people take me less seriously? Do they already?
If you have ever met me or worked with me, you know I am pretty serious when it comes to work. I don’t take it lightly and I work really frickin hard. But I also have a fun side too and perhaps that’s where my lol’s stem from.
Ever wanted to respond with a lol and thought better of it because you didn’t think it was ‘professional’? Why? Why hold back who you really are and what your natural, genuine reaction was to something?
One of my favorite bloggers is Ashley Ambirge at The Middle Finger Project. If you are not familiar with her blog, I encourage you to go check it out now (or maybe after your done reading this because once you start reading, you will mostly likely be on her site for awhile). She is vulgar and she admits it. In fact, that’s her thing. And you know what? She is an extremely successful business woman that people listen to. She uses cuss words, she says LOL, she wittingly relates dating disasters to sound business advice and she is dead-on smart.
She has clearly found her voice and it’s loud (in a good way).
But what is this saying about her? What does using LOL say about me? Am I less professional? Does it indicate I take things too lightly that people shouldn’t take what I say seriously?
Nah. I think it shows I am a person who isn’t afraid to be judged by somebody. Hey, I want to keep my day job too but I have never turned my back on myself to be something fake for the sake of a great business deal. There will always be a proper time and place for everything. Remember my dad and his famous ‘tact and diplomacy’ talk.
I think it really depends on the blog and your goals but most importantly, your blogger voice should be saying a lot about you. What do you think about something? What is your opinion? I hope that when people meet me in person or other places on the web, they see a commonality. And as much as I would love to write in the style of Chris Brogan or Valarie Maltoni or Amber Naslund, I am not them.
What does your blogger voice say about you?
I honestly haven’t ever thought about a ‘blogger voice.’ I reckon I’m in the minority. I just blog what I think. And that means talking about anything from my family to work to flowers to whatever. I’m lucky. I was a writer before I was a blogger.
That’s the idea JIm; blog what you think! Do you feel that being a writer prior to being a blogger has given you a leg up? Curious about this point because I don’t feel you need to be a writer to be a blogger (couldn’t hurt though) and many poeple are turned off by blogging because they are not writers. And if it does give you a ‘leg up’. I feel that it depends on what you write. If you are accustomed to writing in a certain style, that may not necessarily be your ‘voice’. From your comment though, I feel that you have found your voice and are using it.
Define the voice.
Do you refer to the placement of words as they form sentences?
Do you refer to the insights one takes away from the words?
Do you refer to the tone?
You’re no different than Chris Brogan and Amber Naslund. You’re cheating yourself to think you’re different.
Your voice encompasses all of these things. My whole point here is that your voice should sound like you so that includes the tone, the takeaway for readers and how you structure sentences (although we tend to be more grammatically correct in written word). It just needs to sound like something you would say, not a book report for a professor (unless you sound like that which is ok too).
I haven’t blogged much to really define my blogger voice..howweevaahh, in my opinion, I think you should just be yourself when you write. I’ve checked out ‘the middle finger project’ a week ago and wished I found it earlier (Hey I love your blog too!). Now,not everyone is brave or gutsy enough to speak that way professionally. But I guess, you’re also picking your audience when you write that way. Like all other things, it can be in a negative way and a positive way.
Positive side is people love that she’s got balls! to say stuff like that and they know this girl knows what she’s talking about. She cusses to add a little humor in things. Clients always wants someone they can not only be professional with but obviously trust on another level. Now if you go about being all formal about things, you’d go home feeling happy with a business deal, but add a little more human crass in it all, you know she’s not a text-book who attended a meeting and just threw up a few classy words and standard statements around. She isn’t afraid of sounding or looking bad because she knows her stuff and she knows she can help!
The negative side, would obviously be if the recipient could not take (I’d like to say could not handle) a little crassness as they believe in a different manner of professionalism, which is fine. It all boils down to the individual.
Even if the blogger writes beautifully with no cussing, it would still appeal to a large audience given they feel it has a personal touch to it.
I don’t think you should ever turn your back on who you are however high up the hill you get, you just gotta know how to utilize your true talents and use them to the best of your abilities. Flaunt it! Cuss, scream, tell a bad joke, you make a point at the end of it all and you’ve still got the attention. (never listen to anyone who says, hey you could have done it without those fancy vocabulary!…because, they started to listen BECAUSE of it.) Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying be crass to get attention, I’m saying, if you are someone who is that outspoken, find a way to utilize it and stay professional.
Sorry for the long post!
No need to apologize for length! I love that you had a reaction and left a comment that was clearly in your voice!
Good points all around! Different audiences will respond to different things. Oftentimes we dont consider our voice when it comes to the strategy. We consider topics, layout and promotion, but rarely voice. IF we did consider voice, however, we may lose who we really are in the process so I say have a point of view and let it flow like you would in any other situation.
Finding your “voice” is a concept that we use in the music industry too. Not only for vocalists, but for all instrumentalist. Anyone can learn to play a bunch of songs, and mimic the sound of another great artist. True artistry comes when you separate yourself from the rest, and establish a voice of your own.
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