Practice Changing Your Tone and Voice For Different Audiences

I find it particularly easy to write for a B2B market. I naturally write in the more professional, second person tone that the B2B  audience requires. Perhaps it’s too many years in post-secondary institutions that did it to me, but I have to work hard to write in the chatty, personal tone of a popular entertainment or consumer magazine article.

It is something I work at, though, because it’s important to be able to write in many different tones and voices if you want to write full time. You never know when a new opportunity is going to arise, and in what field, so it is important to be as flexible as possible when it comes to your subjects and writing styles.

The best way for me to begin writing in a more casual voice than I generally use is to immerse myself in that kind of writing for an hour or so before I need to begin. The library has no shortage of magazines with covers offering tips on cooking, style, weight loss and romance, so I’ll grab a few of those and read carefully, paying attention to the words and ‘feel’ of the articles.

Once I’ve read through a few magazines, I find I can better begin writing my own pieces in a similar style.

If you tend to write in a style best suited to popular lifestyle publications, you may wish to spend some time reading trade magazines in order to familiarize yourself with the more professional writing style required by B2B clients.

Changing up your tone and style can be a good way to overcome writer’s block as well. Take an older article you’ve written and re-write it for a completely different audience. This eliminates your need to worry about ‘what to write’ and lets you focus simply on how to write it. You may just find a market for it as well!

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