This is going to sound like really strange advice coming from me, the proponent of finding your voice and refining it to its own uniqueness. Yet it’s advice that may save your career someday – Mock your clients.
I don’t mean point, laugh, and tell them their mothers dress them funny. I mean get inside their heads and understand them. Understand their goals, their publications’ angles, their focuses, their audiences. Then adapt your voice to fit.
We do this to some extent already (that is, if we understand that no two clients or publications are alike). But what about those times when our copy needs to be homogenized, stripped of any distinct personality? What about when you need to give just a smidgen more than the facts in order to meet your client’s requirements?
I was talking with a writer friend yesterday about this very thing. He writes for a well-known national magazine. Part of the requirements include capturing the tone, voice, and style of said publication. He said it was quite a learning curve. We’re taught in J school to develop our personal style and let our personalities enhance the writing. Yet there are publications and companies that need one voice – some have gone to great lengths to create and maintain that voice.
The smart client will tell you that up front. However, there are times when it’s not readily apparent, times when you’re going to go in circles trying to figure out why your client isn’t happy with what you’ve done and keeps gashing away at your copy. In those cases, stop. Ask if the tone of the publication is to be consistent with all other content. Ask if there’s a specific voice you need to maintain. Then if you’re still confused, ask for help in reaching it.
Most of us work for clients who have companies or corporations. There are often distinct tones companies adopt. For instance, you wouldn’t go into MorganStanley SmithBarney, where you “eeeeeehhhn” your respect with a stiff upper lip and a string of important-sounding names trying to sell them on an eTrade type of marketing approach. You’d match your writing tone to the expectations of the senior management and the clientele.
When was the last time you had to provide a specific tone or homogenized copy? Did the client tell you or did you have to figure it out on your own? Were you even aware it was a requirement?
It's common in my gigs for me to have to hit a certain tone. It's usually explicit up front: "This has to be in the voice of so-and-so." That's because there's usually a personality behind the brand. I'm really good at getting the voice, and I couldn't tell you how. If I can interview the "guru" or read enough of their stuff, I just absorb it unconsciously. If the client isn't sure what the tone should be, I ask questions like: "If there were a spokesperson for this product, who would it be? Whose voice would you hear in your head?" The answer to that question is tremendously helpful in shaping the tone of the copy.
I run into this all the time and it can be frustrating. Sometimes I client will hire me to ghost write for them, hand me someone else's book and want a relatively identical book with the other person's voice. The more frustrating thing is when I am expected to ghost write something and the client keeps returning it and says it does not sound like they wrote it. Of course, you can guess what my obvious reply is. When I ask for samples to try to get a feel for what they are talking about, many times they do not have any. I really try to avoid these jobs because I cannot literally crawl in someone else's head.
that's where being a playwright comes in handy. I can mimic any speech pattern.
It helps in speechwriting — I can listen to someone for 10 minutes and write so it sounds like they're making it up on the spot.
The slogan for my freelancing business is "Your message, your voice, my words." Same idea, I guess!