Six exercises for finding your personal brand voice

1. Make a list of the adjectives you want people to repeat after they meet you, talk to you, see or read about you. Are you: creative, relentless, indomitable, determined, insightful, scrupulous, thoughtful, or visionary? Then, narrow the list down to three.
2. Ask other people: “What’s my special sauce? If you had to be a reference for me, what would you say?” Take notes of the answers you get.
3. Make a list of at least five successful professionals that you follow and respect. Spend some time examining them. How are they alike? How are they different? What about their character intrigues you? Often what we admire is what we aspire to be. Pat Flynn, Rand Fishkin, Warren Buffet, Yves Béhar, Richard Branson, Seth Godin. I like these professionals because they think outside the box, and are intelligent, creative, irreverent, and honest connectors of ideas and people.
4. Ask yourself: “What makes me different?” What do you do or what will you do that sets you apart? You know the whole snowflake talk we got as kids. Well there’s some truth to that. Don’t blend in. Hone in on your uniqueness. It may be your actual job function like “social media scientist,” or it could be something broader like “connector of people.”
5. Answer the question: “Who is the most important audience that my brand needs to speak to?” All the content you create and everything you say in the public domain will be discoverable online. By identifying and communicating with your most important audience, you’ll avoid any chance of personal brand misalignment with your larger goals. In fact, you’ll make sure your personal brand represents the values you and your audience hold.
6. Ask yourself: “How does this make me feel?” When searching for your authentic voice, you have to continually check in with yourself to make sure you can emotionally live with your intellectual decisions. It’s so much easier to be motivated if we’re true to ourselves. You don’t have to pretend to be anyone that you’re not. In fact, I would adamantly advise against faking it at all. Everyone will find out eventually.