8.1 Voice

Each time we speak, the voice we use is heavily influenced by our audience and our purpose: whom we are talking to and why. For example, we use different voices to talk to our pet, to our mother, to our boss and—if we are a lawyer in private practice—to our clients. As a lawyer, we probably use quite different voices for different sorts of clients.

At the same time, the voice we use depends on our purpose. For example, the voice an employee lawyer in a law firm uses to talk to the managing partner:

• in a conversation at a social function about how fantastic it is that the firm just won a major pitch for a new client with much, interesting, lucrative, and challenging work for all;

is very different from the voice that same employee lawyer would use:

• at their annual performance review to ask for a 25% bonus, a 30% pay rise and whether they can work out of the London office for a couple of months a year—business class travel will be fine thanks.

That's how our audience and purpose influence our voice when we speak.

But when most lawyers write, they do so without thinking about the who and the why. They put their fingers to the keyboard or they pick up a dictaphone, and a-way they go. Usually the lawyer's "work-voice" kicks in and takes over. That work-voice tends to be fairly heavy, formal, traditional, and impersonal. When writing, most lawyers automatically use their work-voice regardless of whether they are:

• writing to a major corporate client to tell it that the jury awarded it $150 million in compensation;

• writing to a retail client in the process of buying a house to say that on some technicality the vendor has avoided the intent of the contract and sold the house to a third party at a much higher price; or

• writing a document for the firm's client to use to communicate with its markets. That document shouldn't be in the voice of the law firm's brand. Rather, it should be in the voice of the client's brand.

Many lawyers are proud of their work-voice. It gives them confidence: makes them feel like a real lawyer. I remember the moment when as a final year law student a friend of mine asked me a question about a legal issue he had read about in the paper. Lo and behold, I knew the answer. Even better, when I explained it to him, even I thought I sounded like a lawyer. The relief—the feeling that, "Hey, maybe I'll be able to do this after all"—was immense.

Many people have a work-voice—not just lawyers.

Most of us are familiar with our work-voice. We notice it especially when it starts coming out in an inappropriate context. For example, you're having a relaxing time in a social context and then someone asks you a question about something related to your area of expertise. All of a sudden, you're being consulted professionally. Your work-voice kicks in without you summoning it. The first thing you notice is your cheeks feel a little funny and the words aren't coming out quite right—you feel a little slurry or odd. The second thing you notice is that the person you're speaking to suddenly has a baffled expression on their face because they have no idea what you're saying. That's your work-voice.