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Use active voice consistently to make your writing sound more authoritative, impactful, and purposeful.
The difference between active and passive voice may seem like a nitpicky grammar nuance, but it significantly impacts the vigor and persuasive power of your copy.
Passive voice essentially buries the action under a convoluted structure diminishing its importance. It feels like the action just automatically occurred on its own rather than being directly driven with clear intention.
In contrast, active voice is direct and succinct – the doer does the action which snaps into focus cleanly and powerfully. Active construction emphasizes responsibility, accountability, and strong execution, three characteristics you absolutely want to be exemplified in your brand voice.
When you use active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the verb’s action:
- Our SEO experts optimized the website (active)
- The website was optimized by our SEO experts (passive)
See how passive voice creates a more roundabout, wordy, distancing, and minimized effect? <— Just like that.
Why do I suddenly want to reach out to my English teachers in elementary and give my thanks?
Remember: This isn’t a hard and fast rule and there are rare exceptions where passive voice can be warranted, but they are few. For example, when the action itself is more important than who enacted it, or if you are a fiction writer who’s trying to extend some level of suspense or mystery.
(Dear teachers, wherever you are, thank you so much!)
Hmmm… maybe we can make a rule here: If you’re writing fiction, use passive voice. If you’re writing non-fiction or copywriting, use active voice.
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Update: I’m currently writing a book about copywriting. I’d like to know more if you’d be interested in reading it. Comment below if you want updates about my progress.
