How to write in your client’s tone of voice
The words are fine. The voice belongs to someone else: you, or every other brand. Voice comes from listening, not from three adjectives in a guidelines PDF.
You’ll recognise it
- The feedback is “a bit generic” or “not quite us”
- Their guidelines say “friendly, confident, human”
- You’ve rewritten it twice and it’s no closer
Why it happens
“Friendly but professional” describes almost every brand. Real voice lives in specific choices: the words they’d never use, how long their sentences run, how they talk to customers when nobody’s editing them. Find those, and the voice follows.
Three tactics, in order
Each one comes from the ProCopywriters tactics library. Do them in order: each step gives the next one something to work with.
Review harvesting
Tactic · about 10 min · Read the tactic ↗Read twenty customer reviews, emails or social replies. Copy out the phrases customers actually use about them.
The brand saysComprehensive anxiety management
Customers say“She didn’t make me feel like an idiot.”
Verbal identity
Tactic · about 5 min · Read the tactic ↗Make two lists: ten words they’d say, ten they’d never say. Run your draft against the “never” list.
Would saysorted, properly, mate
Would never saysolutions, leverage, utilise
Write like people speak
Tactic · about 5 min · Read the tactic ↗Read your draft aloud as the founder would on the phone. Rewrite anything they’d stumble over or never say.
BeforeWe are committed to delivering exceptional outcomes.
AfterWe’ll do it properly, or we’ll do it again.
Try it on your own copy
Three steps, one tactic each. Write as much as you like. Everything stays in this browser until you choose to save it.
Keep it here while you work. You’ll see it next to every step.
Step 1. Review harvesting
Tactic ↗Read twenty customer reviews, emails or social replies. Copy out the phrases customers actually use about them.
See an example
Comprehensive anxiety management
“She didn’t make me feel like an idiot.”
Step 2. Verbal identity
Tactic ↗Make two lists: ten words they’d say, ten they’d never say. Run your draft against the “never” list.
See an example
sorted, properly, mate
solutions, leverage, utilise
Step 3. Write like people speak
Tactic ↗Read your draft aloud as the founder would on the phone. Rewrite anything they’d stumble over or never say.
See an example
We are committed to delivering exceptional outcomes.
We’ll do it properly, or we’ll do it again.
Pick your best
Read everything back once. Choose the line that does the job best, then tidy it.
Something else wrong?
Every fix works the same way: the problem, why it happens, three tactics and space to try them.
Good to know
What if they don’t have guidelines?
Better. Steps one and two are how you start writing them.
What if the founder speaks badly?
You’re borrowing their rhythm and word choices, not their ums and ahs.
Do I need an account?
No. Your work stays in this browser. Sign in with ProCopywriters to keep it as a board in Ideas, or to work through a whole brief.
Where do the tactics come from?
A library of 87 named techniques collected by ProCopywriters, the UK’s professional body for copywriters. You can browse them all for free.
Fixes get you unstuck. Ideas is where the work happens.
Keep every attempt on a board, work through a whole brief step by step, and pull in any of the tactics when you need them. Included with ProCopywriters Pro.