Episode 181. Becoming Known for Your Unique Voice in Your Content, Speaking, and Personal Brand

This is the episode for the solopreneurs and content creators who secretly cringe when you look at your recent posts and hope no one you know in real life is reading what you’ve posted.

This is why in this episode, we will have a conversation around becoming known for your voice.

Before we dive in, I want to share with you a brand new free resource that I’m creating. In this super comprehensive resource, you will learn the 9 parts of your thought leadership strategy, you will have a set of rubrics to help you audit your thought leadership strategy, and you will be able to identify the specific gaps to fill and what your next action steps are, as you continue to move forward.

To grab this resource when it officially drops in September 2024, you can sign up for the waitlist at cheryltheory.com/audit. The link will also be in the show notes below.

Now, let’s dive into the conversation for today.

In This Episode:

Becoming known for your unique voice: When you’re trying to write like the LinkedIn “Top Voices” or Instagram girl boss coaches
A client case study: What it looks like before vs after you write from your own voice
Three tips to identify your unique voice

Listen on Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTube | Any Player

Creating a distinct and unique voice in your content

Prefer to listen to this episode on YouTube?

Right now, maybe you know you’ve been writing in a way that is not in line with your own voice when you cringe at the thought of people you know (especially folks you may know in real life) reading your LinkedIn posts.

Heck, even you cringe at your own content. And the reason is because you know deep down that this doesn’t sound like you.

On the other hand, when you are writing/speaking/creating from your unique voice, people can feel it, and so can you.

And THAT is going to be what makes the difference between someone reading your post and thinking, “Oh, cool, that’s nice but it sounds like every other post I’ve read” and therefore keep scrolling.

Versus someone who will stop to fully digest what you wrote, see you as someone thoughtful and genuine, and recognize you as THE person who can potentially help them further.

Becoming known for your unique voice: When you’re trying to write like the LinkedIn “Top Voices” or Instagram girl boss coaches

How can you tell if you’re currently not writing in your own voice?

From my experience and observations with the clients I’ve worked with, what often happens is that everytime you look around at the people who are seemingly killing it online… Perhaps they have a super large audience or following and have so many views on their YouTube videos or get tons of engagement on their LinkedIn posts. But you can’t help but think that they all sound the same.

They’re talking about the same thing and their content feels like the same formula over and over again.

Deep down, you KNOW that you don’t want to write and sound like the LinkedIn marketing bros and Instagram girlbosses. You want to have a distinct voice and style of writing that people recognize and love.

But you feel pressured to model after other people’s style because they seem to be successful. It’s like, maybe they have the formula to success online.

The more I think about why this comes up for us, the more I’m thinking it’s because we’re often taught to look for examples of what we want to aspire towards.

For example, for those of you who are writing on LinkedIn, what might have happened at some point is that you end up writing LinkedIn posts that are based on what you think is acceptable to other people on LinkedIn, especially the folks who have “earned” a LinkedIn Top Voice badge.

Because let’s be honest, how often have you scrolled through your LinkedIn feed and see posts from these top voices and feel like they’re all so painfully similar?

It feels like their posts and content are structured with the same beginning hook statement that makes you cringe. And the rest of the post is written with verbiage that makes you think “Am I really supposed to write like that too???”.

And for the cherry on top, they’d attach a photo of themselves that had nothing to do with the topic of their post but hey, LinkedIn posts with photos supposedly get more reach and impressions and engagement, right?

As a result, very rarely do we consider where and how we’re uniquely different because we’re constantly bombarded with examples of what is supposedly working for those who are successful. We keep seeing examples of what the status quo or norm for successful content is.

Here’s what I want to plant the seed for today in this episode: I sincerely hope that all of us listening to this episode right now can start to recognize that when you’re able to tease apart what makes you and your voice unique and different.

That’s how you know your communication strengths when it comes to sharing your ideas, articulating your story, and overall in content creation and marketing your work.

This is when you know how to do content and marketing in a way that is different from everyone else in your niche or industry who are seemingly speaking on similar subjects or offering the same services as you.

A client case study: What it looks like before vs after you write from your own voice

Let me tell you a story about one of our clients, Joshua, who has all the legitimate reasons to keep putting their content on the back burner, such as:

Previously burning out in their business, and now they’re worried about burning out again if they add back content to their to-do list.
There was always something else more “important” or “time-sensitive”, especially client work.
Travel and taking weekends off was important to them.
Comparisons. Lots and lots of comparisons with other folks in the same line of work as them. Now, they’re really struggling to feel confident that they can offer something unique to the industry via their content.

Most importantly: Joshua felt pressured to write like the LinkedIn marketing bros or Instagram girlboss coaches who are all using the same verbiage in their content and are seemingly successful because of it… But it all just felt shallow, superficial and wrong.

To top it off, Joshua also genuinely loves to write. He had things to say. LOTS of it, in fact. But he just didn’t want to write like how they were “taught”. As you can see: It makes sense why Joshua kept putting content off.

In Joshua’s own words, he said: Prior to working with Cheryl, I had issues with comparisons and trying to figure out how my content could exist with people a lot more experienced than I was.

These reasons might be hitting a bit close to home for some of you right now.

Deep down, Joshua knew that he had a unique voice and style of writing. He knew that he had the potential to stand out on social media and differentiate his work from everyone else.

You might be feeling the same way. You are well aware of the compounding effect of putting out content and staying consistent. You KNOW what to do. You KNOW how to do it. You’re just not doing it…

With Joshua, a core part of what we worked on together was supporting him to identify what his unique voice looks like and sounds like and to sharpen the skill of being able to look critically at his work to identify which parts feel in integrity with his voice, and which parts are out of integrity.

We also spent time coaching him to express his voice fully in his content and marketing, and to embody the identity and mindset of someone who shows up like he has things to say on LinkedIn. Because guess what? Joshua has lots to say about his subject matter. And now, it’s time for Joshua to show up like it.

So, what happened to Joshua? Let me read out a snippet from Joshua’s testimonial form after we finished working together. The question on the testimonial form was, “ What were your biggest wins in terms of your business or life? Why does this matter to you?”

Here’s what Joshua wrote:

[1] Showing up on the Internet:

Knowing which part of my voice / how my voice resonates with people. At the same time, it’s in integrity with me. It resonates with people because I’ve had evidence that this content stands out, and at the same time, it is less effort for me to create because it’s in integrity and natural for me. That’s a double win.

Previously, I was struggling with comparisons and trying to figure out if I had the expertise, whether I’m contributing anything new to the conversation.

In my space (B2B marketing), there’s a lot of people with more or different experiences like consultants. So, they have smart and intelligent things to say and are informed by real world experience.

Initially, it was intimidating for me to be there so I constantly wondered if I was writing anything new and if I was qualified to say what I’m saying. TLC helped me come to a nice middle ground where I know that my strengths are in writing thoughtful, empathetic content and showing up in a space where I’m still learning.

Another strength is analyzing and extra key takeaways. Teaching and communicating something in a way that is simple but not in the hustle bro/girl boss voice.

[2] Getting booked out and signing new clients in January.

For Q1. I’ve been getting messages with people saying they resonate with my content. It’s a confidence boost as well because you know you have something special, and there are quantifiable benefits.

Approaching the Internet in this way, you stand out because it’s something special. It attracts your ideal clients.

[3] One of my initial struggles was finding time to create content. Being regular and consistent, while juggling a lot of client work.

My business and content creation are both writing, so there was a fear that I’d burn out from writing too much. This approach of creating in a way that’s aligned with my personality and interests, expressing – this was important for me.

If I did in a way that wasn’t aligned, I’d burn out. I know this because I have been there.

I also asked Joshua, “If there was someone who is currently feeling like they need to speak in XYZ voice, but they feel like something is “off “, what would you say to them? “.

Here’s what he said:

“This is really broad, but it starts with inner work. You can follow all the tips and tricks, but if it’s not aligned with who you are or where you come from, then it doesn’t come from a deep and aligned place.

Inner work is what you want to express. What thoughts and emotions do you have around putting yourself on the Internet?

People have a lot of thoughts and fears about putting themselves online, so to do it in a way that’s aligned with you and irrespective of social media metrics – It’s a good long term place to be.

In this container, you’ll find the tools to help you get there, provided you are willing to show up as well.”

SO, SO GOOD.

But now you might be thinking, this sounds great in theory, but how do you even know what your voice is?

It’s sounding like there’s a bit of je ne sais quoi going on, which means there’s this air of “you can’t really put it into words, but you’ll know it when you see it.”

It feels like you can tell when someone is speaking and writing from their own voice and you can tell who’s not. But when it comes to yourself, HOW? Right? Like, how do I go about even knowing what my own voice is, let alone writing from my voice?

Three tips to identify your unique voice

Although speaking and writing from your unique voice may come more naturally to some, I personally am of the opinion that becoming known for your voice is a skill.

And like any other skill, you can learn, hone, and practice the skill of identifying what your unique voice is, speaking and writing from your unique voice, and ultimately become known for your unique voice.

First, I believe that it’s crucial to actually show up and practice using your voice both online and offline.

Because as much as you can try to learn to find your voice and speak from your voice purely from theory – meaning: although you can try and read all the articles about finding your voice or listen to podcasts about speaking in your unique voice, using your voice and becoming known for your voice, it honestly cannot happen without you actually interacting with other humans and communicating with other humans.

First things first, it’s crucial to put yourself in real life scenarios where you practice developing your voice in concrete, real world settings.

I think another thing we could all carve out thinking time or journaling time for, is reviewing and evaluating how certain situations went and what you could have done differently to sharpen your situational awareness or self awareness muscles.

For example, you could create time on a weekly basis, maybe at the end of the week, to journal on how the week went and ask yourself questions such as:

Looking back at the content I published this week, were there any parts, sentences, phrases, etc that don’t resonate with me anymore, now that I’m looking at it with a fresh pair of eyes? Why doesn’t it align with me anymore?
Where did I share too much background information?
Where could I have given more context and show that I understand the nuances of the situation, before stating my point of view?
Where could I have asked a question to the other person, instead of jumping to stating what I think the solution is to the problem?
Was there conversation where I could have expressed more of my playful, less serious self?
Was there a situation where I wish I had used a different tone of voice?

Because in the moment, it might be hard to be aware of how you could have used your voice in another way or how you could have brought out your voice more.

By taking the time to review and evaluate the week that has just passed, you are strengthening your muscle or being able to recognize how you could improve or do things differently in the week ahead.

For example, one thing I used to struggle a lot with is introducing myself when I meet someone in real life. I used to just say, “I’m a podcaster and I do online coaching.” and then my voice would trail off. Which honestly, is a really weak ass introduction.

It not only doesn’t convey how proud I am of what I do, but it also doesn’t reflect my voice and how I normally speak.

One thing I had to actually practice was introducing myself, especially when I’m in a room with people I don’t know. For a while, I worked on introducing myself as: I’m Cheryl. I’m the coach for aspiring thought leaders and the host of The Thought Leader Club Podcast. I specifically do this by helping entrepreneurs to build a body of work that lets them become known for their unique thought leadership, their story, and how amazing they are at what they do.

And this is good. Not bad. But after practicing saying this for a few events or met ups, I decided that this introduction doesn’t quite reflect my unique voice. It doesn’t have that flair of weirdo, nerdy CHERYL energy, or what I like to call “wholesome vibes”.

So one thing I am currently practicing is introducing myself as the following: I’m a podcaster and I’m a coach. My podcast is called The Thought Leader Club Podcast, and I help people to share their story, build a body of work centered around their thought leadership, and also express more of their weirdo selves and post cat memes online.

Still a work in progress for me, but I like to think that I am getting closer to introducing myself in a way that is more and more embodying my unique voice.

Overall, this reflective/evaluation exercise will require you to be highly attuned to what your personality is, what your communication strengths are, your level of perceived credibility in your subject matter or industry, among other variables that can indirectly or directly influence how your voice best shines.

It takes self awareness to know what your voice is and what works for you.

And finally, the third thing is something I am recently realizing and I hope to be able to put into practice and get better at. That is expanding my vocabulary and being more playful with how I mix and match the words already within my vocabulary.

Because ultimately, words don’t just carry a meaning or definition, but words also carry their own perceptions, vibe, or connotation.

If I were to take it up a notch in terms of my selection of words, I might even take it a step further and say that words each have their own distinct signature. And so, the imprint that our words will leave on our audience’s mind will vary depending on the specific words we use.

More often than not, if you can select the words that best reflect the intention or message you’re trying to convey, then the result is that your message will actually land more deeply with the audience you’re trying to speak to.

I’m really starting to wonder how elevating my own vocabulary can not only bring out my voice even further both in my content as well as real life conversations, but also how my choice of words can create an even more lasting impression of my audience and help them actually remember what I said.

Overall, finding your voice, using your voice, and becoming known for your voice will require you to actually put theory into practice and put in the reps, over and over again, to sharpen this skill.

I hope that the conversation today helped you to appreciate the benefits of becoming known for your unique voice, in career, business and content creation, and think more deeply about how to bring out more of your unique voice in actual, real world situations you will encounter moving forward.

One final note before we close off: I’m currently working on a brand new free resource that will be dropping in just a few weeks.

In this super comprehensive resource, you will learn the nine parts of your thought leadership strategy, you will have a set of rubrics to help you audit your thought leadership strategy, and you will be able to identify the specific gaps to fill and what your next action steps are, as you continue moving forward.

To grab this resource when it officially drops in September 2024, you can sign up for the waitlist at cheryltheory.com/audit. The link will also be in the show notes below.

Sounds good? Awesome. Let’s get to work.