Brand Voice: How to Sound Like a Person, Not a Press Office

Somewhere along the way, a lot of brands started writing like a legal department with a marketing budget. We've all seen the uninspired results: "We are pleased to announce a best-in-class solution that leverages synergies to drive value for our stakeholders." It is grammatically correct and almost empty, and it sounds like no one in particular, because it was built to offend no one. Consequently, it also inspires no one.

Here is the catch: people do not bond with a press office. They bond with a person, and they remember a story. A brand voice that reads like a compliance memo is forgettable.

Prose is not fluff; it's how our brain connects to a brand

The facts don't lie: Stanford's Jennifer Aaker found that stories are remembered up to 22 times more than facts alone. Stories stick, it's science!

In his Harvard Business Review piece "Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling," neuroscientist Paul Zak showed that character-driven stories prompt the brain to release oxytocin, the same chemical tied to empathy and trust. His studies found that those stories didn't just feel nice; they measurably moved people to act. A good story is basically a neurological hug.

Your audience is already over the corporate voice

Sprout Social's 2025 research found that authenticity and relatability are the two traits consumers value most from brands, and that they are tired of the salesy, corporate messaging.

And connection is not a soft metric. When people feel connected to a brand, 57% spend more with it, and 76% choose it over a competitor. Sounding human is just a growth strategy with a personality; it's actively going to boost your brand presence AND sales.

The press-office detector

If your draft has any of these, rewrite it in your real voice:‍ ‍

[ ] "We are pleased/excited to announce"

[ ] "Leverage," "synergy," "best-in-class," "solutions"

[ ] Not a single "I," "we," or "you" anywhere

[ ] Passive voice is doing all the heavy lifting

[ ] Zero specific, named humans in the whole thing

[ ] You would be embarrassed to read it out loud

Let a human do the talking

‍Your brand is not a building, and it is definitely not a legal department. It is the people who make it, and people are interesting. Let one of them actually talk. Tell the true, specific, slightly imperfect story. That is the thing your audience will remember.