“My newsletter feels so stiff and corporate, but when I try to be casual it feels fake.”
“I constantly second-guess my writing voice and end up sounding like everyone else.”
“How do I balance being professional with showing personality?”
These comments from my recent research reveal one of the most challenging aspects of newsletter creation: finding an authentic voice that resonates with readers while remaining true to yourself.
Unlike technical issues that have straightforward solutions, developing your newsletter voice is deeply personal and often fraught with self-doubt. Yet it’s also what transforms your newsletter from “just another email” into a meaningful connection with your audience.
Why Your Newsletter Authentic Voice Matters
Your voice isn’t just style—it’s substance. Here’s why:
- It differentiates you in crowded inboxes
- It builds recognition and memorability
- It establishes emotional connection beyond information
- It makes complex information more accessible
- It transforms subscribers into community members
Most importantly, an authentic voice reduces the cognitive load of writing. When you write in your true voice, words flow more naturally and creation becomes less exhausting.
The Corporate-to-Conversational Spectrum
Most newsletter writers struggle somewhere along this spectrum:
| Corporate | Professional | Approachable | Conversational | Casual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formal language | Industry terminology | Balanced terminology | Everyday language | Colloquial speech |
| Third-person | Mix of perspectives | Second-person focused | First-person stories | Personal asides |
| No personal details | Limited personal context | Relevant personal examples | Personal narratives | Life details |
| Technical precision | Clarity prioritized | Accessible explanations | Metaphors and analogies | Slang and idioms |
There’s no single “right” position on this spectrum—the key is finding where your authentic voice aligns with your audience’s expectations and your content’s purpose.
Finding Your True Voice: Practical Exercises
1. The Friend Exercise
The simplest yet most effective approach to finding your voice:
- Identify one real person who represents your ideal subscriber
- Write their name at the top of your draft
- Write as if you’re emailing them personally
- Remove their name before sending
This immediately shifts your writing from “broadcasting to an audience” to “sharing with a friend”—often transforming the entire tone.
2. The Voice Mapping Exercise
This structured approach helps identify your authentic expression:
- List 5-7 newsletters whose voice you admire
- For each, identify 3-5 specific voice characteristics
- Circle the characteristics that feel natural to you
- Create a “voice map” of these authentic elements
For example:
- From Newsletter A: Conversational, uses questions, shares personal stories
- From Newsletter B: Clear explanations, analogies, occasional humor
- From Newsletter C: Passionate, direct, challenging perspectives
Your voice map might include: conversational, uses analogies, occasional humor, and direct.
3. The Voice Consistency Framework
Create a simple reference document that includes:
- 3-5 voice attributes (e.g., conversational, thoughtful, occasionally humorous)
- Typical phrases or transitions you use
- Tone boundaries (what’s too formal or too casual)
- Examples of your writing at its best
Review this document before writing to stay grounded in your established voice.
Common Authentic Voice Pitfalls and Solutions
The Expertise Trap
Pitfall: Hiding behind jargon and complexity to establish credibility.
Solution: Translate expertise into accessibility. Strong voices don’t display knowledge—they transfer it. Practice explaining complex ideas using everyday language and examples.
Exercise: Take an industry concept and explain it three ways:
- To a senior colleague (industry terms allowed)
- To a new industry entrant (limited terminology, more context)
- To a friend outside the industry (no jargon, relatable analogies)
Use version 2 or 3 for your newsletter.
The Authenticity Paradox
Pitfall: Overthinking “authenticity” until it becomes performative.
Solution: Focus less on being authentic and more on removing barriers to authenticity. What self-censoring are you doing? What “professional mask” are you wearing?
Exercise: Write a draft quickly without editing. Mark anything you’d normally self-censor. Examine these marks—they often reveal your true voice.
The Personality Balance
Pitfall: Either stripping all personality or forcing too much.
Solution: Start with subtle personality expressions in specific sections (introductions, conclusions, asides) before integrating throughout.
Exercise: Create a “personality gradient” for your newsletter, identifying where more or less personality is appropriate:
- High personality: Introduction, personal stories, opinion sections
- Medium personality: Explanations, examples, transitions
- Lower personality: Data presentations, technical instructions, compliance information
Voice Evolution Strategies
Your voice should evolve naturally over time. Here’s how to guide that evolution:
1. Collect Voice Feedback
Create specific mechanisms to understand how your voice resonates:
- Reader surveys with voice-specific questions
- A/B test different tones in segments of your newsletter
- Track engagement patterns across different voice approaches
- Ask trusted readers for specific voice feedback
2. Practice Voice Stretching
Dedicate certain issues or sections to consciously stretching your voice:
- Write an entire issue in first-person narrative
- Create an issue with more questions than statements
- Draft a newsletter with a stronger point of view than usual
- Write an issue that includes a vulnerable personal story
These experiments help you discover new authentic aspects of your voice.
3. Create Voice Standards
Document what makes your voice distinct:
- Words you use: Specific terms, phrases or expressions that feel natural
- Words you avoid: Terms that feel inauthentic or misaligned
- Sentence structures: Short and direct? Flowing and detailed?
- Narrative approaches: Stories? Questions? Challenges? Reflections?
- Formatting patterns: How you use bold, italics, bullets, etc.
This becomes your voice style guide, ensuring consistency when you’re rushed or uncertain.
Voice Examples: Before and After
Here’s how the same information changes across different voices:
Corporate Voice: “The implementation of new algorithms has resulted in improved engagement metrics across multiple platforms, demonstrating the efficacy of our recommended methodologies.”
Professional Voice: “Our analysis shows that the new strategy has improved engagement rates across all platforms, validating our approach.”
Conversational Voice: “Great news! The new approach we’ve been testing is working—engagement is up across all platforms. Looks like we’re on the right track.”
Casual Voice: “OK I’m kinda excited about this! That strategy we talked about last week? It’s actually working! Engagement is UP across everything. We’re onto something here!”
The information is identical, but the connection is entirely different.
Maintaining Consistency While Evolving
As your voice evolves, it’s important to maintain enough consistency that readers still recognize “you.” Here’s how:
- Evolve gradually: Change one element of your voice at a time
- Signal changes: When making notable shifts, acknowledge them to readers
- Retain signature elements: Keep certain distinctive aspects consistent
- Match evolution to purpose: Ensure voice changes align with your newsletter’s goals
Remember: your voice will naturally evolve as you grow as a writer and as your relationship with your audience deepens.
The Courage to Sound Like Yourself
Finding your newsletter voice ultimately requires courage – the courage to sound like yourself in a world of professional conformity and content sameness.
The newsletters that build the deepest connections aren’t necessarily the most polished or the most professional. They’re the ones where readers feel they’re hearing from a real person who speaks to them directly, shares valuable insights, and builds a genuine relationship over time.
Your most authentic voice might feel vulnerable or imperfect. That’s not just okay – it’s what makes it powerful.
Mary Kate Feeney is the Creative Principal of Dockside Media. To read more of her writing, subscribe to her newsletter The Marketing Mixtape and follow her on LinkedIn.