Your brand voice is how your business sounds in every email, post, and page. When it’s undefined, each person on your team writes differently, and customers get a slightly different company every time. You don’t need a branding agency to fix that. You need 30 minutes and a blank document.
Minutes 1–10: pick three words
Write down how you want customers to feel after reading something from you. Then choose three adjectives that describe that voice, such as friendly, plain-spoken, confident or warm, expert, calm. Avoid words every company claims, like “professional” or “innovative.” They don’t guide anyone’s writing.
Minutes 10–20: write the do’s and don’ts
For each of your three words, write one thing it means you do and one thing it means you don’t. For example:
- Plain-spoken: do use everyday words and short sentences; don’t use jargon or buzzwords.
- Friendly: do write the way you’d talk to a customer at the counter; don’t sound like a legal notice.
- Confident: do give a clear recommendation; don’t hedge every sentence with “maybe” and “possibly.”
Minutes 20–30: rewrite three real lines
Take three things you’ve actually sent recently, such as a website headline, a social post, and an email reply, and rewrite each one in your new voice. These become examples your team can copy. Put the three words, the do’s and don’ts, and the before-and-after lines on one page and share it with everyone who writes for the business.
Keep it alive
Revisit the page when something you publish feels off. Add new examples as you find lines that sound exactly right. Over a few months, that single page becomes the easiest style guide your team has ever used.
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