When your writing sounds nothing like your voice, it’s no longer a message; it’s a mask. In our quest for sounding Right vs sounding Real:
When did we stop sounding human?
We talk so much about “authenticity” in writing, yet the moment fingers hit the keyboard, we trade our voices for jargon, our humor for polish, and our intent for SEO.
We forgot how to write like we talk.
Talking Was the First Campfire. 🔥
It’s where humans gathered—trading stories, warnings, jokes, dreams, and fears.
It was raw. Spontaneous. Alive.
Then one day, someone said, “Maybe we should write this stuff down so people don’t forget.” Savvy, right?
And that’s how writing was born.
Not as a replacement for speaking, but as a way to remember it. To extend the conversation. To preserve the warmth of the fire when the crowd dispersed.
Somewhere along the way, we forgot that.
🚩 We started writing like we were afraid to sound human.
🚩 Afraid to sound real.
🚩 We turned conversations into presentations.
🚩 Stories into scripts.
🚩 We confused “professional” with “impersonal.”
When You Don’t Write Like You Talk…
👉🏿 You’re not preserving the campfire.
👉🏿 You’re building a museum.
And museums?
They’re quiet. Controlled. Sanitized.
They hold relics, not relevance.
When your writing doesn’t sound like you, you’re not really communicating. You’re just… stalking meaning.
“Writing that forgets the voice becomes a sculpture—polished, perfect, and utterly still.”
PoeticMayhem
Speaking vs Writing: The Space Between Thoughts and Actions
At the core of both is thinking. But the medium changes everything.
Speaking is like jazz. Communication is a tone.
- You’re live.
- You can’t edit without revealing your hand.
- It demands presence.
- It exposes what you actually believe.
Writing gives you time.
- Time to polish.
- Time to posture.
- Time to manipulate.
Writing, when misused, becomes less about clarity and more about control.
There’s a kind of truth that sneaks out when you don’t have the luxury to rehearse your thoughts.
We Don’t Need More Content. We Need More Campfires.
So, what’s the answer?
Think Clearly.
Speak Simply.
Write Wisely.
- Don’t dress your thoughts in business casual just because it’s going on a website.
- Don’t let grammar get in the way of genuine.
- Don’t perform. Converse.
Because the longer you take to say something, the more likely you are to change it. And that’s not always for the better.
“If your writing doesn’t sound like you, what’s it really for?”