Tips to write more authentically as a woman

"I don't know how to write as myself anymore. I've been writing for others my entire career." a common refrain when I encourage clients to speak up. I know it well, because I went through it, too. When I left my old job, I'd been writing for others for 15+ years. I remember on my first day of self-employment, early 2020, carting my new laptop into a coffee shop, stretching my fingers, opening a dialogue box, and preparing to write a post here. And then I quickly shut my laptop and went home. I had nothing to say. Why would anybody care? Everything I knew or thought, others had probably said. And better. Even I felt bored by the things I first wrote. Snoozefest. In 5.5 years I've become a specialist in how to break through this barrier. Here are my 3 best tips: ⚡ interview yourself, in writing. Sit down and answer questions in long form about what you know. Things like: why did I get into this work? What do people misunderstand about it? What or who do I LOATHE in this field and why? What is my favorite project I've ever done? why? how did I do it? Distill these things. BRIEF NUGGETS. Extract observations and tips, reflections and memories. You'll find yourself there. ⚡ don't write only about work. Truly. Nothing is more painful than reading content on here by a human that has no humanity to it. We want to get to know you. Tell us about your mother, your dog, your community, your undergrad. Tell us your biggest failures, risks, aha's. Be playful, earnest, silly, sarcastic, and angry. Try it all. Write how you feel. Mix it the fuck up. See what lands. ⚡ develop a manual override. Those voices - the ones that say, someone else has said this - they're not you. They're society. We all have them. It's just some of learn to drown them out. My therapist calls this a manual override. Nobody has said it before because YOU haven't said it before and that alone makes it new and unique. So sound like you, write like you, be you, share your things, and tell that voice to shut up because it's trying to protect you and it's keeping you stuck. It no longer serves you. *** Lastly, I tell people to write their posts on here. Don't pre-draft. Many disagree with me, that's ok. Here's my reason: When you pre-write a post, you're imagining your audience. It will feel stiff and formal, as if you're giving a speech to a wall. No interaction, no feedback. A one-way preach fest. No wonder you feel bored by it. When you have a kernal of an idea, and you open that dialogue box, you remind yourself that you're in conversation here. You will write more conversationally. Try it. Just... try it. literally. that's the whole game. Links below to some free resources for people trying to break through and find their voices again. And yes, that's a dog. And no, it's not real. And yes, I paid for this photo. And no, I don't mind if you aren't a fan of it. It makes me smile.

I speak with women everyday who want to become thought leaders in their space. But most of them are making 4 key mistakes that are costing them their credibility: I see it all the time – brilliant women, incredible expertise, years of experience. Yet, when it comes to building authority and becoming a thought leader in their industry? They all make the same mistakes: 1. They Don’t Tell Their Own Story Women are fantastic at talking about other people’s success. But when I scroll through their LinkedIn, I see nothing about themselves. If you never share your journey, your struggles, and your insights – why should anyone trust you? 2. They Get Storytelling All Wrong Your audience won’t appreciate your highs if they never see your lows. Here's an example: One of my clients helps adults return to college. She talks about the “comebackers” she supports. But SHE'S also a comebacker herself. Yet, nowhere in her content does she mention her own experience. That story is her credibility. But she wasn’t leveraging it. 3. They Bury the Lead I’ve worked with women who've signed billion-dollar deals, led Fortune 500 initiatives, and even painted portraits of Nelson Mandela. But when you ask them to introduce themselves? They all start with the same: “I have a dog and live in Williamsburg.” I always tell them that their most powerful and credibility-building moment shouldn’t be a footnote. It should be the first thing out of your mouth. 4. They Let Limiting Beliefs Hold Them Back I hear it all the time: - "No one will read this" - "People will judge me" - "I don’t have anything new to say" And my answer is always the same: ↳ Everyone will read this ↳ Your unique experiences make your insights one-of-a-kind ↳ People are already judging you, so you might as well own the narrative Here’s a quick exercise to fix these issues: ✔️ Decide you are the subject matter expert – no one is going to grant you permission. You have to claim it. ✔️ Write down every limiting belief you have – then write the exact opposite and shift the script. ✔️ Use scripts to help frame your message. I share scripts constantly because they’re what saved me in my TV career – and now I use them to help women step into their expertise (reply in the comments with the word "SCRIPT" and I'll shoot them your way). Here's the thing you have to remember: You already have the experience. And you already have the credibility. All that's left for you to do is to step up and own it.

No one is better at being you than you. So many of my clients struggle to write content because they focus too much on trying to sound like anything but themselves. They think they need to write content that is:  → Super intelligent sounding → Filled with professional or corporate language  → Sharing some sort of ground breaking idea Which only ends up with them: → Overthinking and overwhelmed → Creating convoluted confusing content → Procrastinating until they give up entirely With the right knowledge and tools, writing content gets to be a lot less stressful. You just need to write more like you. Because the content that does well has these elements: → Stories from real life experiences  → Shared tips that worked for YOU  → Sounds like you speak in your words People can smell content that feels contrived and forced a mile off, it repels. Authentic content that comes from the heart, is the content that starts real conversations and leads to real clients. The ones you actually want to work with. If you've been struggling to write content, here's a simple structure I use and with my clients that WORKS: → Think about a recent experience you can share → Break down what happened and what you learned → Outline the key takeaways and include a personal tip → End with a question asking others about similar experiences I've seen this approach transform how my clients create content. They've gone from feeling stuck and overwhelmed to consistently sharing valuable posts that resonate with their audience. So don’t be afraid to sound like and be more like you in your content.  Because no one else can be you and your stories matter. What recent experience could you share in your next post?