Your CEO Doesn’t Want to Write with “Internet Voice”

There’s a certain voice you see everywhere on the internet. The best adjectives I can use to describe it are empty, airy, and clickbait-y. Some of it is AI. The rest of it might as well be. 

The first line makes a bold claim that feels to the reader like a promise of payoff. You’ve seen them:

• “I can’t believe this happened.” 

• “Most people think X. Really, it’s Y.” 

• “Do you feel [problem] too?”

By the time you read the final sentence, you feel bamboozled. The promise wasn’t kept. Nothing profound was said. They used a lot of words, but you can’t quite tell if they said anything. 

I hate this writing style. It’s everywhere. My understanding is that most executives hate this style, too. 

As someone who's been writing online for over a decade, you have my permission and blessing to never write like this.

What is internet voice, anyway?

Internet voice is the combination of two good things being executed poorly. 

1. Copywriting formulas applied to content

2. Writing to a fourth-grade reading level

Good copywriting can be described as writing in which every sentence builds upon the last until you arrive at a mighty crescendo. You read one sentence and can’t help but read the next, and so on. 

This style harkens back to traditional advertorials in magazines. Think of campaigns like “The man in the Hathaway shirt.” These campaigns used simple writing that continuously fed your curiosity as you read.

The difference between The Hathaway shirt campaign and modern internet writing is substance. Most internet writing holds your attention just to hold your attention. There’s no there there.

The aim of writing at a fourth-grade reading level also misses the point. Simplifying is not the same as dumbing down. Warren Buffett leverages short words and sentences, but he uses them to convey nuanced, complex ideas.

The best executive writing is philosophical, pragmatic, or challenging

Okay, you hate internet voice as much as I do. The best professional business writing should be philosophical, pragmatic, and challenging. 

How do you get there? 

1. Write in your natural speaking voice. When I’m ghostwriting for clients, I always base the style on transcripts pulled from our real conversations. This anchors the executive’s written voice in their natural words and syntax.

2. Decide the substance. The foundation of everything you write should be a real story, stat, or principle. You can source this internally by reading customer service inquiries, speaking with customers directly, or even just reflecting on what topics have captured your genuine interest recently.

3. Write to a specific person. For executives, I recommend writing with a specific smart, accomplished friend in mind. Assume some level of interest and understanding in business, finance, and self-improvement. You don’t need to be bombastic to prove your own smarts, but you also don’t need to distill every industry term down to its simplest form. Be clear.

I don’t think you can follow these three simple recommendations and end up with the dreaded internet voice. Combine your natural speaking voice with topics of substance and write them for a smart audience.

The result might not be Hemingway. But it will be useful and interesting. And it sure as hell won’t sound like most of the fluff you read on the internet. 

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P.S. If you want to incorporate online publishing into your executive media strategy, start with the ACE Framework.