How to Make Your Business Sound Professional (But Stay Human)

Making your business sound human in a world crammed with AI is a challenge. Yes, using these tools is tempting. But when you read back what they produce or even hear their voices, something just isn’t right. They’re way too clinical, and they don’t seem to understand intonation in the way we do.

With that said, many businesses were struggling with sounding professional and human even before 2022. But why?

That’s the topic of this post. We look at some of the techniques and strategies companies can use to make their brands sound more professional and still offer that human touch. Adopting these methods puts you on the right foot and prevents you from falling into traps that consume other firms.

Proofread Your Material

Start by proofreading the material on your blogs, social media posts, and website. You want communication to sound natural, but don’t worry too much about correct comma placement or whether you’ve used your participles in the correct order. Ideally, you want it to sound like a conversation in most cases, like you’re talking to your customers as a real human.

A lot of AI material is grammatically perfect and holds together. However, as anyone who’s ever used these tools will know, it doesn’t always feel warm, friendly or welcoming. Everything feels sort of “potted” or “canned.”

Make Your Tone Warm

While it might be clichéd, making your tone warm is another way to be professional but stay human. Law firms should pay attention to this point. While accurate English matters in some settings, it is not an absolute requirement in others. Furthermore, constantly using the proper words without any inaccuracies often feels robotic and unwelcoming.

Therefore, try to strike a balance. If necessary, get human writers to put together hand-written work for you so that you’re not always battling against being accused of behaving like a bot.

Give Your Brand a Certain Tone of Voice

Another good policy is to give your brand a tone of voice. Making it sound professional often means being consistent with voiceovers in adverts and videos.

Pick a voice you think represents your brand and run with it. Do what large corporations like McDonald’s do, and stick with regional voice actors who can appealingly communicate with your target audience.

Personalize Your Message

You should also look for ways to personalize your messages. Avoid sounding robotic by saying things like “dear customers,” like an old tannoy system in a supermarket. Instead, say something like, “Dear Jane, thank you for reaching out to our sales team. I would be happy to process your complaint.”

Once you personalize, it draws customers in and encourages them to stay with your brand. They feel like you really know them.

Invite Conversations

Finally, inviting conversations is another excellent strategy. This tactic helps to make your business feel warm and more about the experience than the transaction.

For example, you could provide an open-ended invitation to use you for assistance. You could also ask customers how you could make their experience better.