Like a lot of people, I've had Dolly on my mind. Specifically, the Imagination Library Graduate letter that’s been making the rounds.
If you haven’t seen it, grab a tissue and read on:
Dear Imagination Library Graduate,
My, how time flies. It seems it was only yesterday when your family and friends read you your first story. You were just a baby. Now you’re five years old and about to go to school. How exciting!
This may be your last book from my Imagination Library but you have to promise me you will keep on reading. If you go to your local public library you will find a great number of books just for kids your age. Every book is a treasure and every time you open one up you will meet new friends and take wonderful journeys to magical places.
I hope you have a great time in school. I bet your school will even have a library where you can check out books. You and all of your friends are very special. There is no limit to what you can do or how far you can go. Just remember the lessons my family taught me – dream big dreams, learn everything you can learn; and care for all those who care for you. You do all of these things and you can be anyone you want to be.
You are terrific, and remember…
I Will Always Love You,
Dolly
Now, I’m not a Dolly Parton expert, but from the clips I watched over the years and the research I did for this edition, one thing is clear…
From the very first sentence, this letter is a lesson in voice.
Which means B2B marketing can learn a thing or two.
(Of course, I’m not saying your B2B marketing should sound like Dolly Parton. Just that your voice should be intentionally defined the way that Dolly’s voice is.)
Here’s a non-exhaustive and unordered list of the governing rules I see in this letter that I also hear in Dolly’s interviews and video clips:
Occasionally uses Southern secondary interjections (e.g. “My, how time flies”).
Uses contractions except when communicating promises or absolutes (e.g. “Now you’re five” vs. “you will keep on reading” or “There is no limit”).
Omits commas where an editor would typically add them (e.g. “Every book is a treasure and” and “go to your local public library you”). (This one is obvs harder to hear in speech.)
Uses barely (if any) passive voice.
Often joins clauses with and or but, and lets the reader (or listener) supply the logic. (e.g. “You do all of these things and you can be anyone you want to be.”).
Uses you as the default subject (e.g. “You were just a baby. Now you’re five years old [...]”).
Uses first person to keep a human behind the institution (e.g. “I bet your school will even have a library”).
Pairs small concrete actions with large emotional payoffs (e.g. “care for those who care for you” → “you can be anyone you want to be”).
Overall easy to read (Flesch-Kincaid Grade 4-5). This is largely due to sentence length and overall vocabulary.
Combined, we hear a voice that’s warm, folksy and plainspoken.
But if we only supplied the writer with those 3 adjectives, they’d likely struggle to consistently achieve Dolly’s voice. For example:
Dolly writes “This may be your last book from my Imagination Library but you have to promise me you will keep on reading.”
And if we didn’t have the voice rules in place, we might edit this into: “While this may be your final book from the Imagination Library, I hope you keep reading.”
What changed in the rewrite?
Frontloaded a “While” and removed the “but.” (Breaks rule 5)
Changed “my Imagination Library” to “the Imagination Library.” (Breaks rule 7)
Dropped the uncontracted “you will” where emphasis needed to land. (Breaks rule 2)
Turned a request of the reader (“you”) into a personal wish. (Breaks rule 7 again)
None of Dolly’s rules are big lifts. Nearly all of them are measurable. But if no one makes these micro-decisions on purpose, you end up with brand voice drift. And you end up with the same brand voice as everyone else. (Here’s our recent study of 121 healthtech homepages as an example.)
All of these micro-decisions add up to create a voice that’s unmistakably yours. More importantly, when you document these micro-decisions, your voice becomes easier to replicate. (<-- Good news if your team regularly experiences copywriting bottlenecks or gets called out by leadership for voice drift.)
May we all have the courage, like Dolly, to find out who we are and do it on purpose.
‘Til next week,
Carolyn
Before you go…
My firm (Boxcar) helps sales-led B2B software companies translate their proven sales motion into a clear positioning and messaging strategy.
Interested in working together? Reach out using this form.