VoicePrint 101: From Unconscious Talk to Intentional Communication

Communication sits at the heart of almost every coaching and development conversation. Yet, it’s one of the hardest things to work with precisely.

Coaches and L&D professionals often rely on intuition, reflection, and pattern-spotting, but lack a shared, observable framework that allows communication to be named, explored, and intentionally developed without judgement.

VoicePrint changes that.

VoicePrint is a practical, flexible framework that gives coaches a clear way to work with how clients communicate, not just what they say. It helps coaches to develop clients’ self-awareness, intervene with confidence, and help individuals and teams communicate with greater intention, adaptability, and impact.

What is VoicePrint?

VoicePrint is a communication framework that explores the competence of talk. It identifies nine voices that we all use, organised into three clusters:

Exploring voices

• Inquire – opening space and curiosity
• Probe – deepening understanding
• Diagnose – making sense and connecting the dots

Positioning voices

• Advocate – taking a clear position
• Advise – offering guidance or direction
• Articulate – clarifying and naming what matters

Controlling voices

• Direct – setting direction and boundaries
• Challenge – disrupting or redirecting to increase relevance
• Evaluate – assessing quality and effectiveness

Unlike many personality or psychometric tools, VoicePrint does not categorise people into fixed types. Instead, it maps how frequently and effectively individuals draw on each voice. For practitioners, this creates a realistic and non-labelling way to observe communication patterns and work with them constructively.

VoicePrint provides a shared language that allows coaches to name communication behaviour clearly, neutrally, and usefully, without personalising or diagnosing it.

Why VoicePrint is Powerful for Coaches and L&D Practitioners

VoicePrint gives practitioners a structured way to work with communication that is:

• Observable – voices can be heard and identified in real conversations
• Actionable – insights translate directly into practice
• Flexible – applicable across industries, roles, and seniority levels
• Non-judgemental – no voice is inherently “good” or “bad”

For coaches, this means:

• Greater confidence in intervening in communication
• Faster insight and clearer feedback for clients
• A framework that complements, rather than replaces, coaching presence and intuition
• The ability to address communication patterns that reduce effectiveness, including dysfunctional patterns such as patronising, over-directing, preaching, or verbosity, without blame

VoicePrint also helps practitioners support clients in balancing task focus and relationship focus, choosing the voice that best serves the purpose of each conversation.

How Practitioners Use VoicePrint in Practice

Accredited VoicePrint practitioners integrate the framework into their work in a variety of practical, repeatable ways.

Self-perception assessments

Clients explore how they believe they use the nine voices. This gives coaches a concrete starting point for reflection and development.

For example, a client may discover they frequently use the advocate voice to state their position, but rarely use the inquire voice to explore others’ perspectives. This creates a clear and non-threatening entry point for experimentation and growth.

360-degree feedback

VoicePrint practitioners can gather structured feedback from colleagues, direct reports, and managers. Comparing self-perception with external perception often surfaces powerful insights.

For example, a client may see themselves as collaborative, while others experience them as overly directive. VoicePrint provides a shared language to explore this gap productively.

Live practice and role-play

VoicePrint is designed for use in the room. Coaches support clients to practise different voices in safe, reflective scenarios, receiving feedback on both effectiveness and impact.

For practitioners, this moves communication development from insight alone into embodied skill-building.

Task versus relationship awareness

VoicePrint helps coaches work explicitly with conversational purpose. Some clients over-prioritise tasks at the expense of connection; others prioritise harmony and leave outcomes unclear.

The framework allows practitioners to help clients consciously choose voices that fit the situation, strengthening both results and relationships.

Many practitioners use the metaphor of golf clubs to explain VoicePrint. Each voice is a club in the bag. No single club is right for every situation and effectiveness comes from choosing the right one for the terrain.

For coaches, this metaphor supports ongoing experimentation. Clients can expand their range over time, learning to use all nine voices with greater flexibility and confidence, rather than defaulting to a narrow set of familiar responses.

Why VoicePrint Works as a Practitioner Tool

VoicePrint is more than a model; it’s a working framework that supports:

• Consistent use across coaching engagements
• Application in one-to-one, team, and leadership contexts
• Non-labelling communication development
• Clear articulation of progress and impact

For practitioners, it adds structure to intuition and depth to reflective practice.

Become an Accredited VoicePrint Practitioner

If you are a coach, facilitator, or L&D professional looking to:

• Deepen your impact
• Sharpen your work with communication
• Add a practical, flexible framework to your practice
• Differentiate yourself with a clear, observable methodology

VoicePrint accreditation equips you to use the framework confidently and ethically with your clients.

Get in touch to learn more about accreditation, or join one of our bi-monthly live webinars to see VoicePrint in action and explore how it can enhance your coaching and development work.