This is your brand voice…

Brand tells people what to expect when you walk into the room or when they hold your product in their hands. But you can only be proceeded by those expectations when you have a well promoted personal or cultural brand identity.

Being able to identify with a person or culture starts with outside appearance which is why so much of brand is about aesthetic. When we take on a brand and become an “Apple guy” or a “Jeep guy” or a “Democrat” or a “Nike guy” we are allowing the brand of an organization to define a piece of our identity for us.

But a brand built on aesthetic alone is really built on a foundation of sand.

The second layer of brand identity is your voice. Language is extremely powerful. The way we use language can overpower assumptions made based on aesthetic. A quote I love that was inspired by something Nelson Mandela once said goes, “Speak to a man in your language and it will go to his head. But speak to him in his language and your message will go to his heart.”

We use language to bridge the gap in our outward differences. So whether you are trying to speak to an audience in order to be a part of their culture or you are inviting them to be a part of your culture, your voice is what helps them let down their guard enough to overcome any barriers put up by your aesthetic.

To find your voice you have to start with the most honest piece of yourself and describe it using three words.

For me, I almost started with a self-description. I asked myself, “How would my friends describe me?” Then I just free wrote as many words as I could think of that felt true. I crossed out the self-deprecating adjectives and circled the most generous and aspirational.

I arrived at:

• Smart
• Thoughtful
• In-depth

Those seemed like a good fit. Things that paradoxically felt natural and like a healthy stretch.

Now I have a lens through which to write. I just have to be myself even if being consistently smart is a stretch.

The same can be true of your organization. Describe your team culture. Cross out the self-criticism and circle the best your company culture has to offer and always speak through that lens.