November 22, 2025 • 7 mins
In this episode, Paul explains how leaders can discover and define their authentic brand voice using simple, actionable steps — no expensive branding agency required. Learn how to build consistency, trust, and influence through your communication style.
Host: Paul Falavolito
Connect with me on your favorite platform: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Substack, BlueSky, Threads, LinkTree
View my website for free leadership resources and exclusive merchandise: www.paulfalavolito.com
Books by Paul Falavolito
Host: Paul Falavolito
Connect with me on your favorite platform: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Substack, BlueSky, Threads, LinkTree
View my website for free leadership resources and exclusive merchandise: www.paulfalavolito.com
Books by Paul Falavolito
- The 7 Minute Leadership Handbook: bit.ly/48J8zFG
- The Leadership Academy: https://bit.ly/4lnT1Pf
- The 7 Minute Leadership Survival Guide: https://bit.ly/4ij0g8y
- The Leader's Book of Secrets: http://bit.ly/4oeGzCI
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajiving. This
is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul
fella Aledo. Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute
Leadership Podcast. It's episode five point thirty one, and let's
(00:28):
start with a simple question that might stop you in
your tracks. Do you know what your brand voice is?
And more importantly, how do you find out without spending
thousands of dollars with a professional branding firm. And here's
the truth. Most leaders, small business owners, and executives cannot
(00:50):
clearly define their brand voice. They'll say things like we're
professional or we care about people, but that's not a voice.
That's a value. Your voice is how those values sound
when you communicate them to the rest of the world.
So what exactly is a brand voice? Your brand voice
(01:14):
is the tone, language, and attitude that shows up every
time you speak, write, post on social media, or lead.
It's how people recognize you even when your name isn't attached.
Think of it as a leadership fingerprint in communication. If
(01:35):
you've ever read a message and instantly you knew who
it was from before you saw the name that's brand voice.
And here's the thing. You already have one, you just
might not have identified it yet. So let me give
you some steps and walk you through this. Step number one,
(01:56):
listen to yourself like a stranger would. Go back and
read your last ten emails, text messages, or social media posts.
Don't just skim them, actually read them out loud. What
patterns do you notice? Are you formal or casual? Do
you use humor or are you direct in no nonsense?
(02:19):
Do you sound more like a coach, a commander, or
a teacher. Now write down three adjectives that describe your tone,
and that's the starting point of your brand voice. This
exercise doesn't cost a penny, but it gives you the
kind of clarity people usually pay an agency to uncover.
(02:42):
And step number two, ask your team and your friends
to describe your communication style. And here's a powerful question
to ask them. When you hear me speak or read
something I've written, what tone comes to mind. Don't defend yourself,
don't explain, Just listen to what they have to say
(03:06):
and you'll start hearing consistent words maybe confident, calm, strategic,
or inspirational. Those are the raw materials of your brand voice.
And then step number three, define your voice like a recipe,
not a slogan. Professional branding firms love to create slogans
(03:32):
like empower, inspire, and lead, and that sounds great on
a billboard, but it doesn't help you talk like your brand. Instead,
you have to think of your voice as a mix
of ingredients. Say it's something like forty percent direct and practical,
thirty percent encouraging in human, twenty percent bold and opinionated,
(03:58):
or one percent funny and lighthearted. And now you have
something real, a formula you can use to check yourself
every time you speak or write. If your message doesn't
fit your recipe, rewrite it until it does. And then
(04:19):
step four create your voice guardrails. This is one of
my favorite tools. Write down what you will and will
not sound like in the examples that I'll use. I
will speak in plain language, like I'm talking to a
smart friend. I will use real examples, not corporate bs.
(04:44):
I won't use buzzwords like synergy or paradigm shift. I
won't talk down to people or try to sound perfect.
And then these brand voice guardrails keep you consistent. In
consistency is what builds trust. And then step five test
(05:06):
your brand voice in real life. Start using your brand
voice everywhere in your emails, your presentations, your social media posts,
and even your voicemail greeting. Then watch what happens. If
people start quoting you, repeating your lines, or using your words.
(05:31):
That's proof your brand voice is sticking. If no one reacts,
go back and fine tune the mix. And then step
six tie your brand voice to your leadership identity. And
this is where it gets powerful. Your brand voice should
reflect who you are when no one's watching, the leader
(05:55):
behind the microphone, behind the badge, or behind the desk.
If your brand voice says calm and steady, then you
should actually be calm and steady when things go wrong.
If your brand voice is bold and fearless, you'd better
be able to make bold and fearless decisions because if
(06:19):
your voice doesn't match your behavior, people will pick up
on that disconnect quickly, and once they do, your credibility
takes a hit. And then step seven, keep evolving. Your
brand voice is not a one time project. It's something
(06:41):
you refine as you grow as a leader. Every promotion,
every challenge, every life experience will shape how you sound
and what you stand for. So just make sure that
you revisit it every year and ask yourself, does my
voice still fit who I am in what I represent?
(07:05):
And that question alone will keep your leadership authentic. So
you don't need to hire a fancy agency to find
your brand voice. You just need to listen to yourself,
ask for honest feedback, define your tone, set your guardrails,
test it, and align it with your real leadership identity.
(07:29):
That's the formula that keeps your voice consistent, authentic, and
trusted because in today's world, people don't just follow leaders,
they follow brand voices that they recognize and believe. This
has been the seven minute Leadership Podcast and I thank
you for listening. For more, Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts,
(07:50):
visit paulfellowalito dot com
Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajiving. This
is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul
fella Aledo. Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute
Leadership Podcast. It's episode five point thirty one, and let's
(00:28):
start with a simple question that might stop you in
your tracks. Do you know what your brand voice is?
And more importantly, how do you find out without spending
thousands of dollars with a professional branding firm. And here's
the truth. Most leaders, small business owners, and executives cannot
(00:50):
clearly define their brand voice. They'll say things like we're
professional or we care about people, but that's not a voice.
That's a value. Your voice is how those values sound
when you communicate them to the rest of the world.
So what exactly is a brand voice? Your brand voice
(01:14):
is the tone, language, and attitude that shows up every
time you speak, write, post on social media, or lead.
It's how people recognize you even when your name isn't attached.
Think of it as a leadership fingerprint in communication. If
(01:35):
you've ever read a message and instantly you knew who
it was from before you saw the name that's brand voice.
And here's the thing. You already have one, you just
might not have identified it yet. So let me give
you some steps and walk you through this. Step number one,
(01:56):
listen to yourself like a stranger would. Go back and
read your last ten emails, text messages, or social media posts.
Don't just skim them, actually read them out loud. What
patterns do you notice? Are you formal or casual? Do
you use humor or are you direct in no nonsense?
(02:19):
Do you sound more like a coach, a commander, or
a teacher. Now write down three adjectives that describe your tone,
and that's the starting point of your brand voice. This
exercise doesn't cost a penny, but it gives you the
kind of clarity people usually pay an agency to uncover.
(02:42):
And step number two, ask your team and your friends
to describe your communication style. And here's a powerful question
to ask them. When you hear me speak or read
something I've written, what tone comes to mind. Don't defend yourself,
don't explain, Just listen to what they have to say
(03:06):
and you'll start hearing consistent words maybe confident, calm, strategic,
or inspirational. Those are the raw materials of your brand voice.
And then step number three, define your voice like a recipe,
not a slogan. Professional branding firms love to create slogans
(03:32):
like empower, inspire, and lead, and that sounds great on
a billboard, but it doesn't help you talk like your brand. Instead,
you have to think of your voice as a mix
of ingredients. Say it's something like forty percent direct and practical,
thirty percent encouraging in human, twenty percent bold and opinionated,
(03:58):
or one percent funny and lighthearted. And now you have
something real, a formula you can use to check yourself
every time you speak or write. If your message doesn't
fit your recipe, rewrite it until it does. And then
(04:19):
step four create your voice guardrails. This is one of
my favorite tools. Write down what you will and will
not sound like in the examples that I'll use. I
will speak in plain language, like I'm talking to a
smart friend. I will use real examples, not corporate bs.
(04:44):
I won't use buzzwords like synergy or paradigm shift. I
won't talk down to people or try to sound perfect.
And then these brand voice guardrails keep you consistent. In
consistency is what builds trust. And then step five test
(05:06):
your brand voice in real life. Start using your brand
voice everywhere in your emails, your presentations, your social media posts,
and even your voicemail greeting. Then watch what happens. If
people start quoting you, repeating your lines, or using your words.
(05:31):
That's proof your brand voice is sticking. If no one reacts,
go back and fine tune the mix. And then step
six tie your brand voice to your leadership identity. And
this is where it gets powerful. Your brand voice should
reflect who you are when no one's watching, the leader
(05:55):
behind the microphone, behind the badge, or behind the desk.
If your brand voice says calm and steady, then you
should actually be calm and steady when things go wrong.
If your brand voice is bold and fearless, you'd better
be able to make bold and fearless decisions because if
(06:19):
your voice doesn't match your behavior, people will pick up
on that disconnect quickly, and once they do, your credibility
takes a hit. And then step seven, keep evolving. Your
brand voice is not a one time project. It's something
(06:41):
you refine as you grow as a leader. Every promotion,
every challenge, every life experience will shape how you sound
and what you stand for. So just make sure that
you revisit it every year and ask yourself, does my
voice still fit who I am in what I represent?
(07:05):
And that question alone will keep your leadership authentic. So
you don't need to hire a fancy agency to find
your brand voice. You just need to listen to yourself,
ask for honest feedback, define your tone, set your guardrails,
test it, and align it with your real leadership identity.
(07:29):
That's the formula that keeps your voice consistent, authentic, and
trusted because in today's world, people don't just follow leaders,
they follow brand voices that they recognize and believe. This
has been the seven minute Leadership Podcast and I thank
you for listening. For more, Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts,
(07:50):
visit paulfellowalito dot com
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