Responsibility in Words: Why Active Voice Matters
How speaking and writing in the active voice will change your life.
How you speak and write matters not only for others but also for yourself. Since my job primarily involves communication, I am constantly looking for ways to improve how I convey my ideas. What is the best way to take my thoughts and get them into your brain? In college and graduate school, I wrote extensively. This stretched me and forced me to confront my lack of communication skills. I had the greatest difficulty with one concept in particular.
In academic writing, you must avoid the passive voice at all costs. Instead, it is expected to write in the active voice. This clarifies your ideas and makes it easier for others to understand what you are trying to say. Consider the following examples:
Active: I forgot to submit the report on time.
Passive: The report was not submitted on time.
The above statement clarifies who forgot and illustrates a person taking responsibility for their actions. When you use the active voice consistently, you take responsibility for your actions. Life does not happen to you; instead, you engage with life and refuse to let it make you a victim. You control your situation and have the power to change it. Rather than focusing on actions happening to you, you focus on what you can do.
While in college, I was an assistant manager at a fast-food restaurant. We were trained that when something went wrong, we should not admit fault but instead apologize that "it had happened to the person." If I am honest, this was infuriating advice. If you mess up, you should own up to your actions. Take responsibility for your life.
In his first letter, John states, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). As believers, we acknowledge our shortcomings, and in doing so, we can grow. So today, try speaking about your life more in the active voice.