3 Words to Describe You: How to Add Personality to Your Writing

This is gutsy but good. How do you find your unique "voice" for writing your e-newsletter or blog posts? How do you capture and include personality into your content?

I was poking around the E-Newsletter Success membership site and found this great exercise journal. The document is designed to help professionals write in a way that is unique, personal and compelling. In other words, NOT boring...

Maybe this is the secret sauce to why Michael Katz's E-Newsletter on E-Newsletters is such a raving success. Michael always tells a personal story, usually with humor, and then ties it into a relevant, useful tip.

Anyone can do this. The trick is to do it with personality and flair. Wait a minute, though. What the heck is that? ...And how do you elicit your own personality in your writing? How do you write about yourself without being egocentric or boring?

Here's the gutsy exercise: write an email to 10 people who know you well and ask them to describe you with the first 3 words that come to mind.

Try to get a mix of clients, friends, colleagues and others who KNOW YOU WELL.

You’ll be amazed at how similar the answers are. Look for patterns and group them as best you can. What we are trying to do here is capture whatever it is that people think about when they think about you and your business.

This individual personality is what we want reflected in your newsletters and blog posts.

Here’s the email to send:

I’m working on the development of an electronic newsletter (or blog), as a means of keeping in touch and providing clients and others with useful, interesting and relevant information on the topic of [insert your area of expertise here].

As part of this development process, I am trying to capture the “voice” and character of myself and my company, so that the newsletter is as real and genuine as possible.  Please help me by answering one simple question:

What are the first three words that come to mind when you think of me and/or my company?

Wow, do you dare send out a few emails asking for powerful feedback like this? What have you got to lose? Go on, I dare you. Then let me know what words people come up with to describe you.

For anyone curious to learn how to write more powerful newsletters for their business, I recommend joining E-Newsletter Success. It's a great training site with loads of other crucial tips and tactics for writing more effectively on the Web. For more information, click here.

Comments

[Boris Mahovac - Email Marketing Coach]

Michael Katz is spot on with this one. His ezine is one of the few that I look forward to reading every other Friday! He's insightful and funny - a powerful combination!

Plus, he's so generous he sent a big client my way - so here it is, publicly: Thanks Michael!

[Newt Barrett]

Patsi,
This is great. Now, do I have the nerve to do it? And, thanks for the marvelous resource link.
Newt

[Patsi Krakoff aka The Blog Squad]

Thanks, Newt. I admit I still haven't done this, but maybe by posting about it, I will go ahead and see what happens!

[Sonia Simone]

This is a great (but scary!) idea! I've asked my mastermind this question, actually, and found the answers really interesting--not to boil it down to three words, but what makes me "me" to the outside world.

Hm, we'll see if I can work up the courage. Actually, it would be a fun blog post to collect answers in the comments.

[Patsi Krakoff aka The Blog Squad]

I was just thinking about that, Sonia. This can't help but generate at least one fun blog post and lotsa comments. So, Sonia, I dare ya, you go first, double dare!!!

[Jenny Pilley]

This is brave method that I think could really make a difference to the way we look at ourselves. I'm not sure - depending on the words- how this could be reflected in the writing?