TalkPost

TalkPost / Guide

How to turn a voice memo into a LinkedIn post that sounds like you

Record two minutes on your phone and turn it into a LinkedIn post in your own voice. The manual method, plus how to do it faster.

Most people can explain their work out loud far more easily than they can write about it. The method below uses that. You talk for two minutes, get the words down, and cut them into a post. It takes five steps, needs only the voice recorder already on your phone, and the result keeps your own phrasing.

Why speaking beats staring at a blank box

A blank post box asks you to be a writer and a thinker at the same time. Talking removes the first job. When you tell a colleague about a project that went wrong, you do not search for an opening line. You just start, you add the detail that matters, and you skip the parts that bore you.

This is a method, not a study. It works because it separates two tasks: say what you think, then shape it. Do them in that order and in separate sittings, and each gets easier.

Step 1: pick one idea and one reader

Before you record, finish these two sentences on paper or in your notes app:

This post is for: (one kind of person, e.g. a founder hiring their first salesperson)
The one thing they should take away: (one sentence)

If you cannot finish the second sentence, you have a topic, not an idea. Narrow it. "Hiring" is a topic. "I stopped asking candidates for references until the last step" is an idea. One idea per post, and one reader in mind.

Step 2: record two minutes

Open the voice recorder on your phone and talk as if you were telling a friend. A simple order works well:

  1. What happened, in one or two sentences.
  2. One specific example: a person, a number from your own work, a moment.
  3. What you learned or changed.
  4. What you would tell someone about to face the same thing.

Do not read a script. A script brings back the stiff voice you were trying to avoid. If you stumble, keep going. Two minutes is a guide, not a rule. Stop when you have said it.

Step 3: get the transcript

Your phone or computer very likely has a way to turn a recording into text. Many phones can transcribe a voice memo in the recorder app. Dictation tools in word processors and messaging apps do something similar. Pick whichever you already have.

Know what the transcript will miss. It will keep filler words ("so", "you know", "like"), it will have no paragraphs, and it will sometimes mishear names and technical terms. Read it once and fix the obvious errors before you cut anything.

Step 4: cut to a post

Now shape it. Find the hook, which is the most surprising or specific sentence in the transcript, and move it to the top. Keep three or four short lines of body. End with a single line that a reader can act on or remember. Delete everything else, including some good material. One idea only.

Here is an example written for this guide. The speaker is made up, a consultant who helps small shops with their books. This is the transcript of a short memo, lightly cleaned:

EXAMPLE VOICE MEMO TRANSCRIPT (written for this guide)

So, um, I had a client last week, a small bakery, and they were
really worried about cash. Like, they thought they were losing
money. And I looked at the books and, you know, the thing is,
they were making money. They just paid their flour supplier
every Monday and the big card payments from the cafe came in on
Fridays. So by Monday morning the account was almost empty and
they panicked every single week. We didn't change the business
at all. We just moved the supplier payment to Thursday evening
and set aside a little each day. And the panic stopped. I think
a lot of owners think they have a profit problem when they
actually have a timing problem. So if you're always nervous
about cash, look at the days money goes out versus the days it
comes in before you cut anything.

And the post cut from it:

EXAMPLE POST (cut from the memo above)

A bakery owner told me she was losing money.

She wasn't. The books were fine.

She paid her flour supplier every Monday. The cafe's card
payments landed on Fridays. By Monday morning the account was
almost empty, and she panicked every week.

We changed nothing about the business. We moved one payment to
Thursday evening.

Many owners think they have a profit problem when they have a
timing problem.

If cash makes you nervous, compare the days money goes out with
the days it comes in before you cut anything.

Notice what happened. The "um" and "you know" are gone. The hook is the first line. The order of events stayed. The phrasing ("panicked", "timing problem") is the speaker's own, only trimmed. Nothing was added that the speaker did not say.

Step 5: read it aloud and fix what does not sound like you

Read the post out loud once, at normal speed. Anywhere you stumble or feel slightly embarrassed, rewrite it the way you would say it. Then run through this list:

If you want more on keeping your phrasing through the edit, see how to write LinkedIn posts that sound like you. If you are stuck on what to talk about, the 12 voice prompts for consultants are written to be answered out loud.

Tip: record the memo in the same place at the same time each week. A habit of two minutes is easier to keep than a plan to write a post when you feel inspired.

Do it by hand or automate it

By hand, the steps above take a recorder, a transcript, a cut and a read-aloud pass. Time your first three posts yourself and see what the cutting step costs you. Some people enjoy it and some do not.

TalkPost is being built to do the transcript and the first cut for you, using 10 of your past posts to match your phrasing. You would still edit the draft and post it yourself, because it is not designed to post for you. If that sounds useful, you can join the early access list.