A few thoughts on what makes a good voice note from brendonholder.substack.comâŚ
Every good voice note has a hook. For me, close friends will know that my hook is one introductory note in which I say two words: âOkay, so.â Record. Send. This is a warning for the receiver of the voice note. Take a bio break, go to a private area, grab some popcorn, and put in your headphones. Youâre about to go on a ride.
Pauses and cliffhangers. I have been known to end a voice note on a cliffhanger and leave for a couple of hours before I do another voice note. I promise this isnât entirely for suspense. It gives the receiver(s) a chance to catch up and respond. I enjoy when a voice note can act as a substitute for an actual phone call rather than be a voicemail dump that you listen to at the end of the day. As a result, I prefer to voice note when I know a captive audience is waiting. I genuinely love it when I drop the voice note and can see the bubbles of who is responding and to what part.
Get creative. Recently, I have been experimenting with a multitude of imagery to supplement voice notes like here when I was explaining the connection between a dream I had to someoneâs business I had no reason to be in. Sometimes a jury just needs an exhibit to lean the verdict in your favour.
The voice. I mean, duh. The messageâs timbre is guided by our tone, odd turn-of-phrases, stutters and laughter, bloopers and cut-offs. A capsule of your humanity flashes and then is no longer there, evaporating from your phone as soon as youâre finished listening. The ephemeral nature of a voice note feels as intimate as a cupped whisper from your friend. Itâs precisely yours until itâs no oneâs.
