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Hi Reader!
When was the last time you read your writing out loud?
Maybe this is part of your routine process. Maybe you read out loud only when you are struggling with the sense or cadence of a piece you’re working on.
During our Summer Script Camp kickoff in WriteCME Pro last week, we explored what happens when we stop writing only for the page—and start writing for the ear. Writing not only for how words sound spoken out loud, but writing for words that will be spoken out loud. Writing for voice.
We started with a simple exercise: reading a dense paragraph silently, then out loud.
Within seconds, we were gasping for breath, losing focus, and recruiting our neck and shoulder muscles just to get through academic jargon that looked perfectly fine—OK, reasonable-ish—on the page.
Writing for voice isn’t just about shorter sentences—it’s about writing for what voice actor and BBC presenter Emma Clarke calls embodied presence. When you write content someone will physically speak, you’re not just crafting text. You’re creating an experience that lives in the human body.
This corporeal connection engenders something else, which for me, was surprising.
When I started writing for voice, I found my voice.
My experience has been that even when you are writing content for someone else to speak out loud, you immerse yourself more deeply in the meaning of the words. In doing so, you tap into the teacher within. And when you do that, you allow your writing to become what Ann Handley calls full-body human: layered, specific, a little unhinged (in another context, but I’m stealing it for now).
Why?
Because writing for voice is itself an embodied practice. You put yourself in the shoes of the speaker. You breathe with the speaker. You listen for rhythm. You pause with purpose.
And as you intentionally shape that experience for the audience—you start to shape your own voice too.
Whether you’re scripting a podcast, developing webinar talking points, or building a panel discussion guide, writing for voice demands presence, clarity, and confidence.
And the practice of writing for these characteristics gifts them right back to you.
→ What happens when you read your writing out loud? Slowly. Intentionally. Hit reply and let me know.
🎧 On the Podcast
Ben Riggs and I talk about writing for voice from a different approach in this episode of the Write Medicine podcast.
✨ Ready to transform your CME writing practice?
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