At the heart of our work, agency writers have one central goal: blend in with the client’s tone so seamlessly that nobody notices we’re there at all.

We can be writing a dense report for a legislative audience one second and a pithy social media caption aimed at college students the next. We adapt to any environment or brand that might come our way. Like a chameleon.

(OK, I know you’re probably groaning, “The chameleon metaphor? Again?” If you’d rather, I could just say “two-faced,” because, let’s face it, that’s what it is. But that can carry negative connotations. So we’re going with the chameleon.)

To paraphrase legendary ’80s music sensation and pop icon Boy George, client chameleons come and go. You’ve got to be open to changing your voice like Ariana, transitioning from one client’s tone to the next without missing a beat. (Thank u, next client.) You can’t get too comfortable, but that’s what keeps things interesting.

When I worked with business-to-business technology clients back in the day, I had to get used to writing in a technical voice. (Think hipster Silicon Valley startup bro meets a suit-and-tie corporate tech giant meets a 1,000-page instruction manual.) As someone who didn’t know what “the cloud” meant at the time, working with software-as-a-service platforms and AI-driven workflow management applications was a foreign world. These clients gave me one of my earliest tastes of chameleon-ing.

I learned tech clients liked a lot of words. Big words. Buzzwords. Strings of words that form complex acronyms everyone pretends to know. The more letters, the better. It took time to explain the complicated and amazing things these clients did, and I ran with this, as it was often reflective of their brands.

When I joined Redhead, I found that I needed to shift my voice again. And again. And again. Adapting to brands across industries, I quickly learned brevity is a skill. At first, it seemed easier to ghostwrite an 800-word article filled to the brim with every single tech buzzword I knew than it was to write one powerful four-word tagline. Writers have to be on their toes—not only when it comes to different tones of voice, but also with different mediums.

Here are a few tidbits I’ve found to be true about chameleon-ing, regardless of your agency, medium or clients’ industries:

Do your homework. Whether it’s a highly technical startup or a consumer brand you’ve known your whole life, it takes time and effort to fully understand a client’s unique voice. If you don’t do your due diligence, the audience will see right through you. (And not in the good, chameleon way.)

Leave your ego at the door. Not only do you need to be able to adapt, you need to be willing to adapt. If the client isn’t using Oxford commas, for instance, throw them out (regardless of your opinion on this highly controversial matter). Step away from personal writing preferences when they don’t align with the client’s needs. It’s not about you.

Still, you can’t hide what’s inside. Your personal voice often leaks through in your writing. With both past and current clients, I’ve found I subconsciously lean on my own habits: starting sentences with “but” for dramatic effect, showcasing my love for semicolons, and using the “rule of three” sentence structure (like I did just now). You don’t do this on purpose, it just happens. But awareness is key; always ensure your writing tendencies still align with the client’s brand and goals, and adjust when necessary.

Of course, voice switching isn’t unique to writers. Everyone bounces between styles: designers, project managers, salespeople, stand-up comedians, zookeepers, and people moving to new cultures or environments. We’re all just cute little chameleons out here doin’ the best we can, making it work for our clients. We learn how to read the room and blend in, no matter how intricate the wallpaper might be.