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Hey there. I was inspired to make today's focus Sharpening Your voice after reading Ann Handley's newsletter. Ann is the author of Everybody Writes, a digital marketing pioneer and the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, the leading marketing training company with more than 600,000 subscribers.

In her cleverly-named newsletter, Annarchy she was talking about this idea of Sharpening Your Voice. The message was not about saying more, but being more thoughtful about what you do say. Sharper.

In this episode of the HerBusiness podcast I talk about not just sharing your voice, but Sharpening Your voice. And there's a big difference.

Technology has made it easy for us all to speak, to Tweet, to write, to publish mountains of content, all with a few keystrokes and at the click of a button.

Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of turmoil in the world. I've personally received a lot of communications from brands who want to tell me where they stand on the significant issues.

Unfortunately, many are sounding same-same and not offering any value or taking a clear stand. I've seen cliches and overused terms that don't really say anything.

As marketers, as business owners — our job is to move people towards making a decision, to inspire and to lead people to change. Our voice is the primary vehicle we have to help us to realise those goals. But, the value that is uniquely ours won't be heard if we follow 'groupthink' and use a voice that is the carbon copy of our competitors' voices.

Listen to hear:

• The mistake big brands are making with 'karaoke-singalong' copy
• Four ways that you can sharpen your voice
• How to be ready that people are ready to HEAR you
• Why true communication is evident by the response that you get
• How sharpening my voice has help grow engagement from podcast listeners

Mentioned in this episode:

• Ann Handley's Annarchy Newsletter
• MarketingProfs
• HerBusiness Manifesto

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