It’s something I’ve been working on (or is that against?) for probably 25 years now. Sometimes I’m aware it’s the task in hand, and other times I’m taking a break, walking the dog, doing the washing up, and I realise, “I don’t believe it. It’s that same job … again!”
This time I was reviewing a client’s social media profile. There was a video voiceover in particular that sticks in the mind. So stiff, so corporate (they aren’t corporate, they’re local). Why are they making such stilted content? This isn’t them.
I know for a fact passion started their business. In their case, passion for wholefoods, locally sourced ingredients, a quality that isn’t normally available for lunch on a high street.
So my job is to try and find their authentic, what-no-one-else-can-say, natural voice. And this is what I’ve been trying to help clients with for many years.
It turns out, when the roles are reversed, it’s not so easy!
I’ve been in paralysis over how to represent myself on this website for some time. And when I start writing my own representation, without the luxury of a third-person perspective, I am as vulnerable to retreating into a shell of self-awareness and cliché myself.
So I’ve given up trying to explain myself in soundbites for a homepage, and have started this blog instead.