I Hate It When You Don’t Sound Like Yourself

I hate it when you don’t sound like yourself.

{There was a time when I didn’t sound like myself, either. So I’ve got compassion for you. I know how you probably got into this situation. But I’m also ticked off on your behalf.}

Know what else? Your right people hate it when you don’t sound like yourself.

Photo by baileyraeweaver courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

They can tell when you’re indulging in unintentional mimicry or when your voice is ‘off’ — even if they don’t tell you straight out.

They can feel the inauthenticity — ooh, harsh word! — and they make decisions about you and your offers accordingly.

Quick Personal Story Time

A long time ago {I was really young}, upon ending a two and a half year relationship, I told my onetime guy, “You know what? You never really knew all of me.” And he said, “Yeah, you’re right. I could tell.” His voice rose in indignation. “That pisses me off,” he said. “Why didn’t you ever let me really know you? Why did you hold back?”

Turns out that the version of my voice I’d presented through that relationship, while lively, engaged, loving, and seemingly me — wasn’t the fullness of me. And, to my surprise, I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.

A compromised, unwhole voice leaves a void where the whole, powerful you should rightfully be.

Just like my voice in this relationship, going in halfsies — even an energetic, well-intentioned halfsies — just isn’t enough.

Your right people want all of you, and they want you to come to them in the pure, powerful, unfettered voice that only you can inhabit.

When you sound like you, you’re unknowingly writing in your brand language. You’re drawing on your signature phraseologie. You’re striking the tone that makes us say, “Ah, yes. She’s on fire today.” You’re creating an experience where your right people can see themselves in the light you cast for them.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could catch yourself writing like this — like you?

I have a way for you to start noticing when you’re sounding like you. Becoming conscious of your voice and what you really sound like at your best is the way to being able to step into your purest and most powerful voice at will.

Find your best post or piece of content {e-newsletter, etc.}.  Open a blank document and get ready to jot stuff down.

Read the post and in the blank doc, keep track of words and turns of phrase that leap out at you. If you’ve heard it before or know that you got it from someone else, don’t include it. Note only the phraseologie that sounds and feels fresh, alive, and like it leaped from the primordial goo of your deepest message. It all counts — nouns {names for things}, adjectives {words that describe}, cadence {rhythm patterns}.

Add to your list as often as you can, as often as you spin phraseologie that makes you say, “Oh! That’s me.”

Keep your list somewhere easily accessible. Read it from time to time. Remember that this is evidence of your voice and your brand language in the world. This is your stuff.

Noticing the components, step one. Stepping into that foundational stuff whenever you want and need to, step two.

More on that very soon.

Next week, I’m releasing Freeing the Voice of Your Business, a multimedia product designed to help you own the conversational space that’s rightfully yours as a creative entrepreneur working digitally. To be among the first to learn more, sign up here for Inklings, my weekly e-newsletter.

Signature brand language — you’ve got it. In the comments, share with us a gem from your phraseologie cache. We want to hear you.