Writing tips: How to take a pass on passive voice
If you’re reading this post, then you’re proof that blogging and other forms of writing aren’t “dead.”
What is potentially dead, however, are people’s attention spans, or at least their attention span on content that is vague, wordy, or simply confusing.
With the incredible amount of content we have access to nowadays if someone isn’t able to quickly and concisely grasp key information from your content that is valuable, interesting, and relevant to them, chances are you won’t be able to hold their attention.
One way to keep content engaging and easy to understand is to use active voice.
Active vs. passive voice
When a sentence is active, the subject (person or thing) responsible for the action in the sentence comes before the thing being acted upon. When passive voice is used, the person or thing being acted on comes first, followed by the actor.
For example:
Essentially, the order of the sentences is reversed. When active voice is used, the actor is the subject (I, we, and our company), and performs the action of the verb (posted, promoted, hired).
With passive voice, the subject (an update, a new course, a VA) is acted upon by the verb.
When passive voice is used the actor can generally be dropped completely (an update was posted on LinkedIn; a new social media course is being promoted; a virtual assistant was hired). This can leave the reader with more questions than answers.
Take a pass on passive voice
While all of the above sentence forms are correct, it quickly becomes clear, which is generally preferred. Sentences written in active voice tend to be shorter, clearer, and to the point.
Does passive voice have a place? Of course. Passive voice is most commonly suited in sentences where the actor is unknown (“my car was stolen” - but we don’t know who did it) or irrelevant (“the company’s marketing materials were reviewed recently” - the object is more important than who actually reviewed the material), or if you want to be vague about who is responsible (the premise behind statements like “mistakes were made,” in business memos).
However, anytime you can cut unnecessary words from your writing, you’re able to keep readers more engaged in the content.
Shorter sentences are straightforward and have more energy. (Direct is good! You’re sharing expertise, so be confident in what you’re saying.) Plus, they’re less confusing! When a reader starts to become tied up in words or trying to figure out who did what in a sentence, they’re more likely to switch off.
If you ever remember purposely using passive voice to hit the word count of your academic paper, you know that passive voice generally means more words, longer sentences, and a lot of “beating around the bush.”
In the online space though, where drop-off rates, clicks, and page views can make or break your business, extra words aren’t helpful if they aren’t speaking to and resonating with your ideal client.
Your style of writing matters, and for some of the same reasons I’ve written about the importance of getting rid of jargon in your copy, and honing in on your brand voice, style, and tone, you’ll likely want to take a pass on passive writing for the majority of your content. Active voice will help maintain clarity and credibility in your work.
You want to create content that your ideal clients are interested in rather than frustrated by, because it could be the difference between gaining and losing their attention, trust, click, and make that sale.
Double check your writing: a checklist
So, the next time you’re preparing content, do a quick double check before you hit publish. Ensure your writing is clear and concise, and that you’re using active voice as much as possible over passive.
Look for mentions of the word “was.” Though not all sentences using “was” are passive, it’s a common word in the majority of passive sentences (from above, “I posted an update on LinkedIn” vs. “An update on LinkedIn was posted by me”).
Look for the word “by.” Oftentimes when “by” is used to refer to who did something, it means the sentence is written in passive voice (from above, “I posted an update on LinkedIn” vs. “An update on LinkedIn was posted by me”). Again, this isn’t conclusive but can be a helpful deciding factor.
Check for any sentences where you could drop the last part of the sentence while still keeping the sentence “correct” (from above, “An update on LinkedIn was posted by me” vs. “An update on LinkedIn was posted). This is often an indication that the sentence is passively written and could be reworded.
Check the order of the sentence. If the person or thing being acted on comes first, followed by the actor, the sentence is written passively (from above, when reference to the LinkedIn update came before the person who wrote it, the sentence was written in passive voice).
Once you’ve identified any passive sentences in the content, try rewriting them and see if the rewrite results in copy that is clear and concise! To switch from passive to active voice, simply switch the positioning of the sentence so that the actor is at the front of the sentence and the receiver is at the end.
Your audience and your analytics will be better off for it!