White Sparrow Coaching

If you’ve ever had someone you don’t really know say, “Hey, I was looking at your profile the other day and…” then you know the tension of wondering how they’re going to finish that sentence. Living in the age of social media means that sometimes we’re judged by our online presence alone. If we’re not even going to get a chance to interact with the people who click on our profiles then we’d better make sure we’re showing them what we want them to see.

You probably already know the importance of personal branding. In short: you want all of the publicly available data about you on the internet to depict an accurate, consistent, and (hopefully) flattering representation of you. You’ve already chosen the right profile photos, and now your cursor is blinking expectantly at you from the “about” section. It’s your time to communicate directly to the person who is viewing your information, now what do you say?

If you’ll remember from what is clearly my favorite TED talk, we instinctively change the way we speak depending on who we’re talking to. But what if we’re not entirely sure who we’re talking to? How do we adapt our tone for an entire group of people – especially if some are strangers?

To reflect both your present and your potential, and for the many things about you that photos and lists fail to show, you need a strong personal brand voice (PBV). 

Your PBV is a curated version of how you naturally communicate. Like a business’ brand voice, it’s rooted in your core values, your vision, and your goals. In writing, it’s everything from your vocabulary choices to the lengths of your sentences. In speaking, it’s all that plus your tone of voice, how quickly you talk, even how loud or quiet you are. 

As examples (and in general), short direct sentences show confidence and authority whereas longer sentences with a variety of adjectives are more imaginative and poetic. Mindful brand voicing steers you away from sounding petulant or immature and toward sounding more assured and optimistic – like a leader.

In many ways it can be paralleled to dressing for the job you want versus the job you have.

Here’s how to develop your PBV:

1. Find your foundation. Define your personal and professional core values. They’re likely to be similar but distinct because they’re applied toward different goals. Keep them at the ready because you should be able to “feel” them through your personal brand voicing.
   
2. Distill your message. Take a look at all of your most meaningful accomplishments, hobbies, and life lessons, and find a common theme among them. This will help you sum yourself up in one word or phrase, which you’ll need to do to stay consistent in your messaging. Yes, you’re a multi-dimensional, fascinatingly complex human being, but hear me out: if you present yourself as too many things, you risk confusing folks with all that splendor. Once they get to know you, feel free to dazzle them with your awesomeness (seriously), but until then, stick to one thing.

3. Search for inspiration. Look through your writing (old presentations, sent emails, articles, texts…) and make note of what you write frequently. When you receive messages from others, pay attention to words, phrases, and tones that resonate with you (and what doesn’t). Compare all of that information to your core values to make sure that they’re true to you. There are some one-liners that work great for some folks but don’t pass the fit check when we try to use them.
   
4. Start a cache. Put your list into words, phrases, and tones (or vibes) that you want to use in your own writing and speaking. If you’re borrowing some that you’ve heard elsewhere, you may want to test them out in emails, texts, or short conversations before committing them to something like your LinkedIn profile. This list will become the mini content library of your personal brand voice (Mailchimp’s is a great example).
   
5. Put it to work. Integrate your PBV into your profiles, webpages, emails, and other messages. Your tone is going to change depending on the context and communication partner. So you’ll want to save your heavy jargon for someone else in your industry, and save “cheers” for your more casual emails. Your PBV will change over time, as you grow, learn, and adapt. 

Like your core values, your PBV is an anchor point for your decision making. Remember you’re a whole human being, and when you’re feeling stressed, anxious, or otherwise dysregulated, you’re more likely to engage in emotion-based communication. Emotion-based communication may show how you’re feeling (and who you are) in the moment, but it can sabotage relationships and goals.

When you get that rage-inducing email, if at all possible, step away from the message. Maybe engage in some mindfulness or grounding exercises. When you’re ready, envision your best self and use your values and PBV to craft a response that reflects who you really are.

Codifying your personal brand voice gives verbal representation of who you are, what you stand for, and where you want to be. Consulting with a personal brand storyteller will hone this voice even further, so you can control the narrative and represent yourself authentically.