How To Improve Your Voice and Tone
We so often deviate from our writers’ avatar.
I never read any of his famous books.
Yet, as I listen to him on Masterclass talking about Voice and Tone, I realized that he’s not only a brilliant writer- he’s also a great communicator.
When I started to listen to his lessons, something else changed inside my head.
First, I finally internalized that my words can make a real impact on people. Even if it impacts just one or two human beings.
This writer really got me.
With his skinny body, his little round glasses, his little hair spiked to the sky, the writer’s voice and tone really hit me like a train.
He dragged me into his world. He kidnapped my soul for as long as he wanted. Until finally, I was convinced that I could have a voice of my own. I could paint on a sheet of paper the frescoes in the form of words that were enclosed within me for years.
The writer’s name is Malcolm Gladwell.
Feed your own ego, I’m busy.
If you push your memory, you’ll remember that type of person always talking about herself.
Remember that person you try to avoid at parties because she will slaughter you with self-praise? She will spend one hour talking about herself, about things that don’t interest you.
Remember anyone?
You can pick a writer that is somehow like that, too. You start reading an article, and at some point, you are forced to stop.
You say to yourself, This moron promised me she was going to write about a theme I was interested in, and now, after 500 words, she’s still talking about herself. (I assume it’s a girl. Sorry, it can be a boy too.)
The writer wrote a good article about an exciting subject and somehow managed not to talk about it. Instead, she wrote a self-promotional piece.
The writer assumed her story was fascinating. She thinks she guesses the readers’ interests.
The writer made you lose your time, patience, and expectations.
Besides, you’re always trying to find that new writer that shares things that really matter.
Finding a writer that completely fills you is like a breath of fresh air for your soul.
Your listener is accessing not just what you’re saying but who you are.
Someone wrote an article that was about to have 4,000 words, but it ended up with 8,000. It was about a trip. The journalist was making a trip to interview someone.
He wrote 4,000 words about the interview. However, the other 4,000 words were boring descriptions of the trip.
If you could describe the journey as Ernst Heminway, you’d make a good piece and the reader would love it. But that wasn’t the case.
Actually, the writer shared how laborious that trip was, how difficult it was, with insights about some hard issues he had to deal with.
It was a perfect waste of time!
Who cares about the hard work of doing an interview. We all know there are hard times when we’re working. So what?
You can’t whine about how hard your life is. People don’t care about that.
Readers want to feel inspired by your words and get some of your positive energy. Your words have to have some kind of lesson- some kind of teaching. Otherwise, people already have problems to deal with every single day.
Readers crave refreshing thoughts.
Final Thought
Niklas Göke once wrote:
Time is the most valuable currency because it’s the most limited and the hardest to get more of.
And as I follow my journey on Medium, I need more time to read, listen, learn, and write.
So, when someone makes me lose my time, I feel sad.
You’ve probably been there.
And as a writer, you’re somehow stealing someone’s time if you don’t deliver what you’ve promised in the headline.
From the moment you engage the reader, there is no way out. You have to deliver the message, the lesson, the new perspective behind it.
Or you’ll lose your voice, and that’s your precious gold.
Be responsible. Feel responsible.
Time is priceless.
Sign up for my email list and join the happiest readers on Medium. (This is where you get exclusive access to my daily activities, experiences, and daily thoughts)