It’s time to drop the ‘telephone voice’ on LinkedIn
I realised recently I'd fallen into a little LinkedIn trap.
You see, normally when I write anything online, I use a certain tone of voice. I suppose I'd describe it as conversational, warm, perhaps irreverent here and there.
But for some reason - perhaps because LinkedIn is the serious-face, business social media platform - I was using the written equivalent of my Mum's best telephone voice in my profile.
"I specialise in producing thoughtful, eloquent written content for the public and third sectors..." And so on (and so yawn). Even worse than that, my About summary section was essentially a dashed-off CV - the very thing I steer clients away from doing.
As for interactions, forget it. I simply wasn’t present. I taught for 12 years and in teaching, job-hunting is simple: you set up job alerts on the Times Ed app or, if you’re old-school like me, you buy the paper version and scour the ads.
I didn’t need LinkedIn. I barely had 200 connections - what was the point of posting if I was basically broadcasting to a mishmash of school friends and randoms? And anyway, I didn’t have a grey suit or a crushing handshake - things I thought you needed to be taken seriously over there.
Two and a half years into working for myself, I developed a nagging sense that I ‘should’ be more active on LinkedIn - global pandemics’ll do that to you. I’d heard rumours of people getting the work they’d always dreamed of through it. Plus, I’d come across even more appealing stories of algorithms that were vaguely comprehensible and predictable rather than temperamental, attention-loving divas (**cough** Instagram **cough**).
I thought about the company page I’d been managing for a client - they managed to have a bit of fun with their LinkedIn, didn’t they? Couldn’t I do the same? Surely I could apply the golden rules I stuck to for all other social media platforms - show up, stay true to yourself and your content pillars, connect, connect, connect to find your people and, finally, curate your feed - to this one? I mean, what did LinkedIn think it was - special or something?
I’ve started small. I’m talking over on Instagram - my preferred social media platform, let’s be honest - and on Twitter, too, about my mission to #makeLinkedInlessmeh. I’ve reasoned that if I bring the people I like speaking to over to LinkedIn, it’ll make it a more fun place to be.
And I've rewritten my bio so that it's more representative of me and the work I do. The rest is a work in progress, but it's a start.
It's been really useful, liberating process. And it's got me thinking more broadly about how we - and I'm thinking particularly about women and creatives, but also just anyone who struggles with LinkedIn - can show up more meaningfully over there.
Anyone else ready to drop the telephone voice?
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Come on in, the water’s….corporate. Join me over on LinkedIn here.