"Find" Your Voice

Or follow it?

Hi Cringers,

Most of us have heard the advice, “Find your voice,” at one point or another, probably from an English teacher. It sounds nice, but it’s rather confusing. How do I find my voice? Where did it go?

The advice makes it seem like voice is static, some treasure hidden deep within, but in my experience, voice is dynamic. It changes with time, mood, the media you consume, and the people you surround yourself with.

That’s why I’ve come to think of voice as less of a treasure to be found and more as a spirit to follow or a set of dials that are always turning.

In an attempt to make this all a little less abstract, imagine a voice mixer that’s constantly shifting:

This is not an exhaustive list, but is based on some of the fluctuations I’ve noticed with my voice after two years of almost daily posting on LinkedIn.

Ask yourself where you tend to fall on these different scales and start paying attention to how it changes throughout the day/month/year:

Playful ↔ Poised

What kind of humor, if any, do you use? When does your voice get serious or weighty?

Raw ↔ Refined

How conversational are you? Do you let imperfections or quirks show?

Minimalist ↔ Maximalist

Do you write in tight lines or vivid, voicey paragraphs?

Concrete ↔ Conceptual

Are you grounded in stories or zoomed out in abstraction?

Most LinkedIn posts skew towards poised, refined, minimalist, and concrete (real-world examples, frameworks, step-by-step guides, etc.)

Sometimes I speak that way, but sometimes I crank it up to playful, conceptual, raw, and maximalist to mix it up.

When I began working for myself, I wanted to create some brand guidelines to keep myself “on brand” when talking about my business, the same way I had followed brand guidelines while marketing for companies.

But the more I wrote for myself the more I realized how limiting and overwhelming that felt and how it was taking the fun out of doing my own thing.

So I set my own rules, basically to speak how I wanted when I wanted. I've found it much more fun and interesting to explore all sides, to challenge myself to communicate in different ways, and to paint a fuller picture of who I am outside my typical work communication style.

And even though I feel my voice changes fairly frequently, it’s consistent enough that people tell me they know a piece of writing is mine from just a few sentences. They don’t mention if that’s a good or bad thing (lol), but I will say that I feel more comfortable writing now than I did when I started.

Maybe the whole idea of “finding your voice” is really about allowing yourself to say what you want to say without overthinking it or adjusting it to fit the room or context.

Maybe it's more about trusting yourself than anything else and letting go of the idea that you always need your hands on the dials.

There’s also something to be said for getting comfortable with a medium to the point that it becomes second nature. When you write or speak enough you stop focusing on how you’re communicating and more on the message.

What are your thoughts on voice? Do you notice any fluctuations in how you communicate on a day-to-day basis? Reply to this and tell me about it.

Need help untangling your thoughts about it all? Book a free intro call with me to learn ways I can support you in developing your voice and getting your message out there and/or follow me on LinkedIn.

Cringely Yours,
Isabel