How can you give feedback on written content to a team unfamiliar with your brand voice?

When giving feedback on written content to a team unfamiliar with your brand voice, provide them with clear, concise examples of your brand's style. Share specific guidelines or a style guide that outlines your brand's tone, language, and key messaging. Encourage them to compare their work against these examples and make adjustments accordingly. This immediate, practical step will help align their writing with your brand's unique voice.

Do all of the team members have a copy of your brand guide? Your brand guide to include a section about your brand voice. If everybody has access to this document, you shouldn’t be having to look at written information too closely. You should try that they are using their own brains.

To provide feedback on written content to a team unfamiliar with your brand voice, use a structured feedback framework. Start with the "sandwich method": begin by highlighting what they did well, then address areas needing alignment with your brand voice, and conclude with positive reinforcement. For instance, "I appreciate your engaging writing style. Let's ensure it aligns more closely with our brand's tone, which is [example]. You're doing great, and with a few tweaks, your work will perfectly embody our brand's voice." This approach offers immediate, actionable steps in a constructive manner.

I feel like this is over engineering feedback. You should just be able to mark up comments. The fact is that writing is a very subjective process after all. Refer to your brand guide, which includes your brand voice. Insure that you markup comments and provide reasons for suggestions.

Starting your feedback with the positive makes the writer feel more confident in their work. Ex: the terminology you are using is great and the voice of the brand is out and loud! Next you can point out to the areas that need to be changed or amended. Being specific helps the writer know exactly where to put effort and saves time. To further explain, if you tell them their content needs paraphrasing, for example, you will be putting them in a gray area.. do you want them to start with a question? A joke? Be mysterious? ..etc. However, let’s imagine your feedback is as follows: this content is great, try to start it with a question that makes the reader anxious to know what do you have to say next?? See the difference ?

Most people think that they are brilliant writers. The poorest writers are often the most confident. Wade into providing feedback with caution. Are they open and receptive to feedback? If so, by all means provide it. Ensure that you have backing from the executive. At the end of the day, the corporate communications professionals should be good at their job, and should really have a final say, as long as it is factually correct. Working collaboratively with the subject matter, experts is key to achieving this.

Use a method like "SBI" (Situation-Behavior-Impact): 1. Situation: Reference the specific piece of content they wrote. 2. Behavior: Describe exactly what in their writing doesn't align with your brand voice, alongside elements that do. 3. Impact: Explain how their writing style affects the brand's image and messaging. For example, "In your latest blog post, the tone was very formal, which contrasts with our brand's conversational style. However, your clarity and conciseness are spot on. By adjusting the tone to be more informal and friendly, your writing will better resonate with our audience and strengthen our brand identity." This approach is both specific and positive, providing clear direction and encouragement.

Track changes are your best friend when it comes to providing feedback on writing. Also, sitting down face-to-face in person to work through changes, and discuss them, although laborious, is very gratefully received by the original author. It helps to build trust and collaboration. When I have worked with highly technical information, and the subject matter experts, I always apply this approach. This has been well received. In an organisation, where feedback is not well received, don’t provide it. I think it’s a very good quote to remember: “never wrestle with a pig, because the pig will enjoy it, and you will get muddy.”

To give feedback on written content respectfully and collaboratively to a team unfamiliar with your brand voice, you can use an inclusive and supportive approach. Begin by acknowledging their efforts and the strengths of their work. Then, introduce the concept of your brand voice gently, framing it as a collaborative goal rather than a correction. For example, "I really appreciate the effort and creativity in your writing. I think we can work together to align it more closely with our brand's unique voice, which is [describe brand voice]. Let's explore some adjustments that can enhance the alignment. I'm here to support and guide you through this process."

I remember having a print run of 17 million brochures, prior to the digital era, that I had collaborated with a line area to write, print and distribute. They had traditionally been quite a difficult to work with, and they did not normally use plain language. Our outcome was collaborative and positive - the product that we sent out to the Australian public was great. It was plain language. It was well received. As well, the line area was satisfied that it was accurate. If you can celebrate your wins alongside your stakeholders, this is truly the outcome that you should be aiming for.