18 Questions to Discover Your Authentic Brand Voice

A brand without a voice, they say, is like macaroni without cheese. Pretty dry, in other words.

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As an entrepreneur, your ideas and how you share them are make-or-break qualities. The voice that carries your ideas to the people you want to reach is perhaps one of your most important tools for influence, income, and impact.

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Without a defined, consistent brand voice, your words go out there and float instead of land.

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Think about a brand that you love. Can you literally HEAR the brand speaking to you? It’s got a voice, hasn’t it?

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That's because they've done the work to cultivate that voice, establish it over time, and make it familiar, comfortable, and enjoyable for people like you.

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If you have (even once) shared your thoughts and ideas anywhere with an audience of any size, you have used a particular voice.

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Was it your true, authentic brand voice? Did it sound like you? Could it sound more like you?

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If you haven't thought about this yet, and haven't defined, cultivated, and started to use your brand voice consciously, you're in for a fun ride: You're about to turbo-charge your brand.

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If you have thought about your brand voice before now, defined it, and used it across all your brand touchpoints: You're about to take your brand to a whole new level by going through this exercise.

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Answer these 18 questions for complete internal and external clarity to define your brand voice.

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Q1. What do you want to say? Really zero in on your message. You do not need to have only one message, but you've likely got one over-arching message and other smaller units of knowledge or 'thought' that you keep repeating. Is it an empowering message? Educative? Emotional? Eye-opening? Dark? Deep? Dooms-Dayish? The nature of your message reflects in your voice.

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Q2. What do you want to change? We're all in this to create some change. Change the way companies do sustainability. Change the way business owners think of money. Change the way leaders cultivate culture. Change a statistic, norm, or narrative. Change the way someone does or sees something. Begin with the change in mind. What kind of a voice do you need to have to be able to drive that change successfully?

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Q3. To whom are you speaking? Don't even think about saying everyone. If you haven't clearly identified the people you want to serve with the work you are doing right now, then do that first. Then consider diving into mechanics like your brand voice. Teenagers will respond to a different brand voice than senior corporate executives, who will respond to a different voice than animal rights activists. Who is your work for?

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Q4. What do you want them to feel? You will likely have different pieces of content and different brand touchpoints to evoke different emotions: Urgency, excitement, motivation, drive, and reflection are some feelings that brands tend to evoke in us. But to help land at your brand voice, can you pinpoint two or three of the major overwhelming, engulfing emotions you want to create for your brand? Think encouragement (life coaches might want this), determination (a UNSDG consultant might want to leave people feeling determined to drive change), and clarity (for business coaches).

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Q5. What do you want them to do? Again, you will want to encourage different responses and actions with your content, but on the whole, what do you want people who come in contact with your brand to do? I want people to let go of their limiting beliefs, start showing up as leaders and build the empires they are capable of building. My tone of voice is matter-of-fact, peppered with a little tough love but uplifting.?

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Q6. What mission are you aligned with right now that needs your brand voice? Getting mission-clear creates a direction for your business and your brand. Your mission might grow and develop over time, and your brand voice (especially if it is your personal voice) will likely grow and develop with it. If your mission changes completely, your voice might change, too.

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Q7. What are your top three values? Please really think this one through. Don't just put down vanilla stuff like honesty and integrity unless those really truly embody your deepest values. What values mean so much to you that they would over-write almost anything else – profitability, growth, even relationships? Identify these values to move through the next three questions.

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Q8. If Value 1 had a specific tone of voice or voice trait, what would that be? For example, I value service and operate with a service mindset. A tone of voice trait that matches is considerate and supportive.

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Q9. If Value 2 had a specific tone of voice or voice trait, what would that be? Do the same exercise for Value 2. Take your time.

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Q10. If Value 3 had a specific tone of voice or voice trait, what would that be? And repeat the process for Value 3. Trust me – you’ll thank me later ;)

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Q11. What are your top three anti-values? Have you ever worked on your anti-values before? This can be a GREAT way to chisel and carve out your clear, powerful voice from all the noise online. Anti-values are things that you absolutely do not stand for. They allow you to keep your tone of voice in check.

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Q12. If Anti-Value 1 had a specific tone of voice or voice trait, what would that be? For instance, an anti-value for me is 'get-rich-quick.' I never want to attract people looking for a get-rich-quick solution. And so, I would be mindful then to ensure that my content doesn't say 'Our $200k in 10 days Formula!' even if that IS the success story I want to share. It would be more like: 'Today we hit what felt like an impossible goal: $200k in 10 days. But it's been five years in the making.'

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Q13. If Anti-Value 2 had a specific tone of voice or voice trait, what would that be? Do the same exercise for Anti-Value 2. Take your time.

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Q14. If Value 3 had a specific tone of voice or voice trait, what would that be? And repeat the process for Anti-Value 3. Trust me – you’ll thank me later ;)

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Q15. Fill in the blanks: If your ideal client reads or hears content in your voice, they would say, 'I love that you sound so ___________, ____________, and ___________.' What are three words they would use to describe what they love about your content?

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Q16. Fill in the blanks. Get quiet for a moment and reflect on this. You're reading an article or listening to a podcast you published that is spreading your work far and wide. You think to yourself, 'This is great. I sound so ____________, ____________ and ____________.' What are three words that you would use the describe what you love about your content?

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Q17. Identify your brand vocabulary. What are some important words that you repeatedly use in your brand universe? These can be separated into several lists if you like. You may have technical or subject-specific terminology, feeling words, branded words and phrases, core value words, and even any slang or tribe-lingo you and your community use. These words form a big part of your brand language and your voice!

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Q18. How often are you using your brand voice? You can't find your voice if you don't use it. Don't be afraid of sounding 'off brand' when you are just beginning to discover your brand voice. Practicing and using your voice is the only way to learn what feels right to you and resonates with your audience.

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And there they are – the 18 questions that will inevitably lead you to discover your authentic brand voice.

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If you do the work and answer these questions, you will give yourself an unbeatable competitive advantage: Clarity, authenticity

, and confidence to spread your work far and wide.

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Few people and companies do the deep work of discovering, fine-tuning, and mindfully using their brand voice. They are the ones that rise to the top of every industry and space.

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The rest are a part of the noise.

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'Everyone finds their voice at different times in their life' – Lilly Singh.

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The question is: What is possible for you in the next few months and years if you make 'now' the time to discover yours?

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