Writing -And Your Voice

Writing -And Your Voice

I thought I would give a quick talk about writing and your voice. "Voice" what do I mean by voice", you may ask? I call "your voice" the emotion and method of your writing.

I always knew you had to have a "voice" to be recognized on the Internet or with any writing, but I guess, I took it for granted. This simple concept came to the forefront of my consiousness when I happened upon an article/interview that lost it's voice. Let me explain.


The Interview

The interview started well, but slowly turned annoying. Why? The interviewer was not directing the conversation, but was trying to upstage the interviewee with his humor. Yes, humor is great when it's used appropriately. However, in this case, I feel the humor was inappropriate. Why?

If the interviewer's humor is making the interviewee uncomfortable (which was obvious when the interviewee tried to graciously dodge the interviewer's comments)-it's inappropriate. This interview, though I wanted to read what the interviewee was going to discuss with the audience, I had to click away.


What I learned.

1. Use your writing voice-and it's emotion with care. Overstated emotions will frustrate and anger your readers and leave them no choice but to click away.
2. If doing an interview, carry the interview forward without upstaging the interviewee for your own ego sake.
3. Leave your ego at the door if you're conducting an interview. The interviewee will thank you. And, more importantly, your readers will appreciate your integrity by not trying to upstage your interviewee.

So, is voice important? I think so. Not only is it important, it's a part of your own credibility.