Our theme for 2019 is Blogger to Thought Leader and to aid you in achieving every bit of it, we have picked up a year-long campaign with loads of activities, chats, and live sessions to help you achieve your target.
We know we ought to have a unique voice to stand out in the blogosphere, but often we find ourselves at crossroads, stuck without a clue. So, let’s run through the chat on How To Develop Your Unique Voice and dig up all the answers.
- What elements combine to make a unique voice?
While Richa Singh thinks writing style, your presentation, the way you break paras – usage of punctuation everything and anything can denote unique voice, Rashi Mital says, it’s mainly the personal touch one adds to each post.
Ramya J.S. D’Rozario says, There could be any number of elements that combine to make a unique voice – style of writing, design, #blogging format, ideation concept, etc. Amrita Singh sums it up best: it’s the whole You package. There’s no two ways about it. Fake it and you will rarely make it!
- What steps have you taken to identify your voice?
Ramya J.S. D’Rozario has the perfect answer, maintaining a very personal voice in everything I write, however mundane. I try to include personal experiences and anecdotes.
Richa Singh knows the secret too, I have cracked how I deal my introduction and conclusion for any piece. Plus I give a lot of attention to how I break my paragraphs.
Geethica puts it in such simple words, when your writing is appreciated genuinely and you connect with what you write, that’s finding your unique voice.
- As a reader, can you make out when someone is not using their authentic voice?
Suchita Agarwal says, It’s when I don’t see any original thoughts.
This happens quite often in health or motivational posts. People talk but don’t say what worked for them. Or their life experiences.
For Geethica, when you personally don’t connect with the writer. If there are no record to support or no personal experience to prove what’s written, there’s no authentic voice.
- Does/should your voice change based on the genre you’re writing in?
I think it alters slightly because every genre has a language of its own says Suchita Agarwal. Besides unique voice needs to evolve with the piece you’re writing.
While Sonia Chatterjee says, the core qualities and belief stands the same. The presentation and intent can be different.
Sona Grover has a valid point as she points out every genre has a different requirement. And yet it is possible to stay true to one’s voice even then.
- Does your voice extend to your tweets/posts/offline presence? Or should it be saved only for blog posts?
Says Ramya J.S. D’Rozario, of course my voice extends to my tweets, posts and offline presence. It is who I am. It is my brand image. My unique voice on #socialmedia should help pull more readers to my blog.
And here’s an interesting take by Saswata Roy. Your voice is unique and reflection of your inner self. It would definitely be visible across various platforms and not restricted to only your blogs.
However, according to Kumar Parameswaran, Experimenting with unique voice on different platforms keeps audience interested and wanting for more.
- How do you think a unique voice helps in building your brand?
Sona Grover, A6. Your own style becomes the way you are identified/recognised. Over time and when used consistently, it helps in creating brand ‘You’.
Suchita Agarwal, A6. Well if people like how and what you write, they’ll come back for more. More readers, more brand building, simple math for a change #Blogchatter
Well that’s all folks! You can read the entire chat here.
PS: Did you find what you were looking for? If you have something unanswered you can watch the Facebook live session on Developing a Unique Voice.
The session was with Rushina M Ghildiyal, a culinary expert and a blogger for over 13 years and was loaded (seriously, loaded) with tips, insights, experience. Here’s a sneak peek into it:
- Be authentic
- Be consistent
- Include your life in your posts
- Content is undeniably the most important feature
- Structure your posts
These pointers are ONLY the tip of the iceberg. Check out the video here for everything you need to know about Unique Voice.
For more insightful and awesome sauce discussions sessions on blogging, you can meet us every Wednesday at 8:30 PM only on Twitter and every Friday for a live session on Facebook at 8:00 PM.
