Style can also be associated with voice. Voice is something that is hard to pin down, but one way to think about it is your idiosyncratic patterns that are unique to how you speak and write. Audiences will always expect things in specific rhetorical situations (see previous Learning Module 2), but if they know you, they might also expect ways of speaking and writing from you.
Your voice might be kind of natural and it might change depending on the rhetorical situation (e.g., think of how you speak and write in various different contexts to older family members vs. co-workers vs. friends vs. strangers). Your voice might have shared attributes across rhetorical situations, but it really is very difficult to suggest there is something easily identifiable as Your Voice.
So, style absolutely has to do with audience. But don’t get too wrapped up in writing 100% for your audience. Another part of the rhetorical situation is called the exigence, sometimes called the purpose (exigence usually relates more to a shared problem or issue that calls someone to write whereas purpose is a bit more singular). It is about what you want to do, about what you feel is right in terms of what you say in response to what calls you to speak or write.
What are the patterns, repetitions, and disruptions of words, sentences, paragraphing, etc. that make the most sense for your exigence/purpose? What feels right to YOU?
Three reasons why this is important:
- It’s your writing, and sometimes audiences need to receive information in ways that they might not be comfortable receiving. Sometimes something comforting is easy to forget or ignore.
- It is sometimes not possible to know how an audience will receive something. We can’t know until you try something. You know a lot, but you might not know for sure how an audience will receive what you say. Sometimes it might be better to write something in the best way you think rather than worry a lot about how an audience might best receive it.
- Sometimes you just wanna write what you wanna write, even if you have an audience besides yourself. So, just do what you wanna do.
Task
Has anyone ever made a comment about your “voice” or “style” in your writing or speaking? Do you have a perspective on the kind of “voice” you have as a writer? In 30-50 words, comment below in response to these questions.
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When it comes to my speaking style as a person people do tend to notice that I have a tiny Spanish accent whenever I say some things. People also notice that when speaking to friends I’m close with I say a lot of slang words.
I speak quickly and very loud with people that I feel comfortable with. Otherwise, I am very quiet and speak very slowly. However, my voice as a writer seems to be more formal.
My friends always comment on my voice and style when I am speaking because of my inability to say “Boston” correctly, and other words which I have a slight accent with. My voice as a writer tends to have formality and monotonous function generally.
In school, I’ve always been told that I spoke quite soft and low. However, in my writing I can write what I want and express myself more confidently.
There was a time where I worked with someone for several months, they thought I never spoke. But after getting to know me better, he then commented on how chill and relaxed my speech patterns were, its as if I’m just another person they would want to spend time with.
My speaking style when giving a presentation is usually confident and clear but when I’m speaking with friends I typically have a more relaxed manner of talking.
People often tell me that I am good at changing my voice when needed. For example, if I’m in a social setting, my voice would be very different from when I’m at work.
When speaking friends they can usually always notice when I am talking about something serious and when I’m joking around. Also since I do speak Albanian they often hear me talking to my family members and just based of listening to me speak a completely different language, they can still understand if I am being serious or joking and or angry. Also with friends I tend to talk as a much higher volume then I would with my family. My friends also comment on my voice how deep it is and how I sound like this one famous streamer, which has a really deep voice. What they always say is “Has anyone ever told you that you sound like Dakotaz(the name of the twitch streamer)” then I reply with “Yes a million times”. That’s how that always went.
Back in June 2019 when I went to Georgia, I wanted to order some waffles from Waffle House and as soon as I said ‘Hey, may I get…”, the waitress quickly said “oh you from New York City”. This event made me want to hear how I sounded when speaking. I had my 14-year-old brother voice record me in Spanish and English and all he had to say was “you sound like Brooklyn” which was weird. In my writing I have a perspective of writing the way I talk yet change style and flow depending on the scenario. Yet, over the years I have noticed bad habits in my writing due to texting, not using proper vocabulary and the affect of New York City slang.
Yes! I have always been told that I come off as very sarcastic and my tone is very monotone. That is half true. I do admit, I am a bit sarcastic sometimes, but most of the time I’m serious and its taken as a joke.
Ha! I have the opposite problem. I’m joking but people think I’m serious. Takes a while to get to know me before people start to see that I’m joking.
Sometimes people can notice how I can sound very serious sometimes, but when I am around people I am comfortable with they can notice how I can be a little bit louder and sarcastic or funnier.
I haven’t really been told I have any specific type of tone when I speak. When I’m writing I tend to have more of a professional and casual type of tone.
I have had many comments on how I speak (partially because I attended an acting conservatory). The main comments I receive relate to my volume, I come from a loud family and accidentally project often. I also get comments on the different voices or affects I will slide into while storytelling. I’ve also been told I enunciate my words very well and have been asked if I was raised in Britain.
I speak loud and clear when i am with people i know but when i am with people i just met i talk lower. Also different settings can affect my voice like if i am at work.
My friends have made comments about my native language as it is not as fluent as them. They have said that I speak with an accent and that it sounds funny because sometimes I speak half Tibetan and half English.
In many conversations I’ve had with my peers or teachers, I’ve been told my voice is quite low and monotonous. In my writing, I’m told I use a lot of contrasts.
Whenever I write, I tend to use a lots of contrasts in the paper. Because I tend to try and think from every perspective, I always find some sort of disproving thought I have against the things I’ve written, and due to that, most of my writing I feel, is a conversation between myself and the other selves in opposition I’ve thought up.
From Sofy: I have been told, often, that I get pretty carried away in my writing. I tend to simply write, and go off on tangents as my brain processes what I am talking about. I might think of my perspective as if I have a lens that I see through when I am writing, and that can be through a political or social lens, or perspective.
I have not received any comments on my voice as a speaker or a writer, but if I had to guess, most people would consider me a disagreeable person. I don’t think this is because I am disagreeable in reality, but I think it is because I find it interesting to play devil’s advocate sometimes.