10 questions to find your voice + make your portfolio website stand out
Rachel Meltzer
If writing your website feels like pulling teeth, you’re not alone. Most freelancers know what they do and who they help – but when it’s time to turn that into clear, confident copy?
→ Cue the overthinking spiral. 😵💫 ←
That’s exactly why I created a 10-question Mini Brand Voice Guide: to help you find your voice, stop second-guessing every sentence, and finally write a portfolio website that sounds like you.
This mini guide was made for all you perfectionists, overthinkers, and anyone who’s been putting off their site because they’re stuck trying to “get the words right.”
Cut through the noise and uncover the beliefs, values, and phrases that define your unique voice so writing (or using ChatGPT to write for you) becomes way easier.
Ready to make your website sound as legit as your services? Let’s dive in.
10 Questions to Find Your Brand Voice
1. What personal belief drives your brand?
- What do you spend time worrying or talking about?
- What lights you up?
- What do you wish more people understood?
2. What defining moment made this belief important to you?
- A challenge, lesson, or realization that shaped your perspective.
- A specific story that illustrates this belief in action.
3. How does this belief show up in your business?
In your products, team, customer interactions, services, business structure, and decision-making.
4. What are your brand’s non-negotiable values?
Identify core values that shape everything you do.
5. What problem(s) is your brand fighting against?
- List 3 frustrations or industry misconceptions you aim to challenge.
- What makes you angry when you see it?
6. What transformation does your brand create?
List you want to see in your industry or customers’ lives.
⚡️ Not sure how to answer this? The Target Audience exercise in the Find Your Niche Workbook might help 😉
7. Who is your ideal client/customer?
- Their values, fears, and challenges.
- What are they struggling with, and what do they desire most?
8. What unique solution does your brand provide?
How does your brand help customers go from to ?
9. What words and phrases define your brand’s voice?
- Make a list of 10 key terms.
⚡️ Pro Tip: Collect words throughout your day for a week or two OR ask family & friends which words you frequently use.
10. How do you want your audience to feel when they engage with your brand?
Choose at least 4 adjectives that describe your brand’s tone and influence on your customers.
11. Which of these archetypes feels most like your brand?
→ ARCHETYPES ←
You can pick up to 3 – but I'd recommend narrowing it down to just 1 if possible!
Finish your guide
You’ve got the raw material—now let’s turn it into a polished, usable brand voice guide you can reference anytime you’re writing copy, making content, or onboarding collaborators.
You’ve got two solid options:
- Do It Yourself (DIY)
- Use ChatGPT
DIY:
- Group your answers into 3 sections:
- Beliefs + Values: Questions 1–5
- Audience + Offers: Questions 6–8
- Voice + Vibe: Questions 9–11
- Give each section a headline to keep it skimmable. Here are some you can steal:
- “What I Stand For”
- “Who I Help + How”
- “My Voice & Vibe”
- Highlight the best bits.
- Turn it into a mini reference doc.
- Keep it in your Notion workspace, Google Docs, a Canva or slides presentation, or even printed on your wall.
- Use it to gut-check any copy you’re writing: Does this sound like me? Would my ideal client resonate with this?
Bold the words or phrases you want to remember and use often (especially in your website, emails, and social posts).
Use ChatGPT:
Want a faster way to turn your answers into a formatted guide? Try this:
Step 1: Give ChatGPT your answers + this prompt:
“Can you turn my brand voice questionnaire answers into a simple, 1-page brand voice guide I can use when writing my website or marketing content? Organize it into 3 sections: beliefs/values, ideal audience/offers, and voice/tone. Make it easy to skim, and highlight key words or phrases I should reuse.”
Step 2 (Optional): Paste in your brand archetypes and adjectives.
You can ask ChatGPT to keep the tone in line with your archetype (e.g., The Creator, The Sage, The Rebel) for extra voice alignment.
Step 3: Polish + personalize.
- Tweak the phrasing so it still sounds like you.
- Use bold or italics to make important parts stand out.
- If something feels off? Just ask ChatGPT to revise it. You can say:
“Make this section sound more playful.”
“Use less formal language here.”
“Shorten this so it’s easier to reference quickly.”
⭐️ Bonus: Tools you can use
- Gamma: Great if you want your brand voice guide to look like a mini slide deck.
- Canva: Paste your answers into a simple brand doc template.
- Notion: Use toggle lists or headings to turn this into your go-to content & copy creation guide.
Get Clients, Stand Out, and Be YOURSELF
Whether you DIY it or use AI to help you polish it, your mini brand voice guide is more than just a writing exercise – it’s a powerful tool to make every piece of your marketing feel like you.
Refer back to it whenever you’re writing something new:
- your website
- your portfolio
- a pitch
- a LinkedIn post
- optimizing your LinkedIn profile
- even an email!
The more consistent your voice, the more memorable your brand becomes – and the easier it gets to create content and copy that actually connects to your ideal clients.
Because at the end of the day, you’re not trying to sell yourself – you’re just learning how to be yourself in a way your ideal clients can recognize and trust.
You’ve got the voice. Now you’ve got the guide. Go make something great.