Elliot Evans's AuthorDNA
The writing patterns that make your content uniquely yours
What is AuthorDNA?
AuthorDNA is a hidden linguistic profile - the subconscious patterns and habits unique to how someone writes. We analyze posts across 243 style metrics specific to B2B social content and compare them to thousands of other authors.
These are the markers most people don't even notice - but they're what makes writing sound authentic.
Does More Of...
Patterns you use more often than typical LinkedIn authors
Proportion of hashtags in the opening
6x more signature
Whether the opening line contains a hashtag
5x more signature
Opening paragraph length vs body average
3x more signature
Proportion of all-lowercase hashtags
3x more consistent
Average character length of hashtags
2x more consistent
Hook lines relative to total lines
1.4x more consistent
Word count of shortest sentence
2x more consistent
Does Less Of...
Patterns you use less often - that's part of your style too!
Proportion of hashtags placed at the end
rarely consistent
Percentage of very short lines (<5 words)
rarely consistent
Whether any emoji are used in the post
rarely consistent
Variety of different emoji used (unique/total ratio)
rarely consistent
Percentage of sentences ending with a question
rarely consistent
Whether the hook contains a question
rarely consistent
Whether the ending is a question
rarely consistent
Signature = unique to you
| Distinctive = stands out from average
| Consistent = reliable pattern
Your AuthorDNA Profile
You probably didn't realize, but you open your LinkedIn posts with hashtags 6x more often than the average user - and those hashtags are twice as long as everyone else’s. Not only that: your first paragraph is triple the length of your main body, and you’re 5x more likely to kick things off with a hashtag right in the first line. If anyone thought hashtags were just for the end, your style flips that script on its head.
This works because it signals intent and grabs attention instantly. You’re framing the conversation from the very first word, making your posts impossible to skim past. Now try briefing this to a ghostwriter: “Always start with a hashtag, make it all lowercase, double the average length, and triple the intro paragraph.” They’d think you were messing with them. This isn’t a template - it’s muscle memory. Even you couldn’t consciously force it.
And here’s the kicker: you do all this while posting less than once every ten weeks. That’s the paradox Drumbeat surfaces - the fingerprints you don’t even know you’re leaving, but your network feels every time. Your true voice, decoded and delivered, at scale.
Signature Phrases
Your most frequently used words and phrases
Posting Consistency
16 Oct 2014 - 16 Jun 2024
0.1 posts/week avg
26/505 active weeks
479 inactive weeks
Deep Dive
Explore all 17 categories of writing style
Call-to-Action Patterns 7
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average position of CTAs in the post | Near top | LOW | STEADY |
| CTAs phrased as questions vs statements | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| CTAs using command verbs (Click, Share, Comment, etc.) | 4% | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether CTAs are concentrated at the end of the post | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether CTAs include emoji | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether CTAs include hashtags | 4% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether any call-to-action exists | 14% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
Emoji Usage 5
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emoji count per 1000 words | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of different emoji types used | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Total number of emoji in the post | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Variety of different emoji used (unique/total ratio) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether any emoji are used in the post | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
Formality & Tone 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count of negative contractions used | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of positive contractions used | 14% | LOW | VARIES |
| Number of different contraction types | 14% | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of words that are contractions | 49% | LOW | VARIES |
| Ratio of negative to positive contractions | balanced | LOW | STEADY |
| Total number of contractions | 14% | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of negative contractions (don't, won't, can't) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Variety of different contractions used | 11% | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of positive contractions (it's, I'm, we're) | 49% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Function Words 21
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usage of 'as' per 1000 words | 0-25 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'at' per 1000 words | 0 - 53 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'by' per 1000 words | 0-25 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'the' per 1000 words | 15 - 109 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Usage of 'which' per 1000 words | 0-10 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'a' per 1000 words | 0-25 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'because' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'but' per 1000 words | 0-2 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'if' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'so' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'that' per 1000 words | 0-16 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'who' per 1000 words | 0-3 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'with' per 1000 words | 0-11 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Overall grammatical word usage | 161 - 320 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'and' per 1000 words | 0 - 55 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'for' per 1000 words | 0 - 36 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'is' per 1000 words | 0-24 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'of' per 1000 words | 0 - 44 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'on' per 1000 words | 0-30 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'to' per 1000 words | 6 - 78 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variety of function words used | 26% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Hashtag Usage 12
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average character length of hashtags | 8 - 12 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of all-lowercase hashtags | 80% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags in the opening | 100% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether the opening line contains a hashtag | 100% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags in ALL CAPS | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags placed at the end | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags woven into the text | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of inline hashtags to end hashtags | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Total number of hashtags | 0.0 - 1.8 | LOW | VARIES |
| Hashtag density per 100 words | 0.0 - 7.0 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags using CamelCase | 20% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether any hashtags are used | 36% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Opening Hooks 14
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Negation words in the hook | 0.0 - 0.2 | LOW | VARIES |
| Number of emoji in the hook | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Use of 'you/your' in the hook | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the hook contains a question | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the hook contains emoji | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the hook starts with a conjunction | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether there's a blank line after the hook | 4% | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether there's a clear opening hook section | 4% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| ALL CAPS words in the hook | 2% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Character count of the hook | 83 - 304 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Character position where the hook ends | 83 - 304 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hook length relative to total post | 98% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hook lines relative to total lines | 97% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Where LinkedIn's 'see more' cuts off | 98% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Line Structure 18
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average spacing between blank lines | 7% | LOW | VARIES |
| Blank lines per 100 total lines | 0.0 - 10.0 | LOW | VARIES |
| Lines containing exactly one sentence | 35% | LOW | VARIES |
| Number of visual text blocks | 0.4 - 1.9 | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of single-word lines | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of very short lines (<5 words) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Predictability of line length pattern | Very consistent | LOW | VARIES |
| Proportion of blank space | 2% | LOW | VARIES |
| Ratio of lines starting with ALL CAPS | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with numbers | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with punctuation | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with quotes | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Spacing between content-rich lines | 7% | LOW | VARIES |
| Variation in block sizes | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Variation in line lengths | 0 - 121 | LOW | VARIES |
| Average characters per line | 85 - 286 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average lines per text block | 100% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average words per line | 14 - 46 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
List Patterns 15
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average items per dash/bullet list | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Average items per emoji list | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Consistency of emoji bullet indentation | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Consistency of numbered list formatting | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Nesting depth of numbered lists | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of dash/bullet list sections | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of emoji bullet list sections | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of numbered list sections | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Use of fraction-style numbering (1/, 2/) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Use of inline enumeration | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Variety of emoji used as bullets | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether any list structure is used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether dash/bullet lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether emoji bullet lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether numbered lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
Vocabulary & Phrases 10
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common idioms and expressions per 1000 words | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of idiomatic expressions | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of words used only once | 9 - 44 | LOW | STEADY |
| How often three-word phrases repeat | 7% | LOW | VARIES |
| How often two-word phrases repeat | 0.0 - 3.7 | LOW | VARIES |
| Length of longest repeated phrase | 46% | LOW | VARIES |
| Number of unique words used | 8 - 50 | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of words used only once | 92% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Ratio of meaningful words to grammatical words | 4% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Unique words divided by total words | 90% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Sentence Openings 16
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count of sentences starting with -ing verbs | 0.0-0.5 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with discourse markers | 0.0-0.4 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with subordinate clauses | 0.0-0.2 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with time words | 0.0-0.4 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with -ing verbs (%) | 7% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with Actually, Basically, etc. (%) | 4% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with subordinate clauses (%) | 2% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with time words (%) | 4% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with There is/It is | ~0.0 per post | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of sentences starting with adverbs | 0.0-0.2 per post | LOW | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with conjunctions | 0.0-0.2 per post | LOW | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with pronouns | 0.0-0.6 per post | LOW | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with 'There is/are' or 'It is' (%) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Sentences starting with And, But, Or, So (%) | 51% | LOW | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with adverbs (%) | 51% | LOW | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with pronouns (I, You, We, They) (%) | 0 - 35 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Closing Patterns 11
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALL CAPS words in the closing | 2% | LOW | VARIES |
| Number of emoji in the closing | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the closing has emoji clusters | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the ending includes emoji | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the ending is a question | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether there's a clear closing section | 39% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Character length of the closing | 84 - 303 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Closing length relative to total post | 98% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether the closing has a signature phrase | 14% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the ending has a call-to-action | 29% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the ending includes hashtags | 36% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Paragraph Structure 13
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closing paragraph length vs body average | 100% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Opening paragraph length vs body average | 3% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Consecutive long paragraphs | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Consecutive short paragraphs | 0.4 - 1.7 | LOW | STEADY |
| How frequently new paragraphs start | 25 - 54 | LOW | STEADY |
| How much paragraph length varies | 80% | LOW | STEADY |
| Total number of paragraphs | 0.4 - 1.9 | LOW | STEADY |
| Average change in length between paragraphs | 50% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 1.1 - 2.5 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 1.1 - 2.5 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your longer paragraphs (80th percentile) | 1.1 - 2.5 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Typical paragraph length (median) | 1.0 - 2.5 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in length changes between paragraphs | 100% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Parts of Speech 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of words that are adverbs | 2% | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of words that are pronouns | 5% | LOW | STEADY |
| Balance/distribution of different word types | Fairly consistent | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of auxiliary/helper verbs | 4% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are adjectives | 6% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are determiners | 8% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are nouns | 13 - 33 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are prepositions | 10 - 17 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are verbs | 9 - 18 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Post Basics 7
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count of complex words (3+ syllables) | 0 - 13 | LOW | STEADY |
| Total sentence count | 0.8 - 3.2 | LOW | STEADY |
| Total syllables in the post | 7 - 110 | LOW | STEADY |
| Total word count of the post | 4 - 65 | LOW | STEADY |
| Average word complexity (syllables per word) | 1.5 - 1.9 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How easy the text is to read (higher = easier) | 23 - 64 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of complex words (3+ syllables) | 12 - 28 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Punctuation Style 17
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colon usage per 1000 words | 0-37 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Comma usage per 1000 words | 0-33 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Ellipsis (...) usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Em dash (—) usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| En dash (–) usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Mixed punctuation clusters per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Multiple exclamation marks per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Multiple question marks per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Parentheses usage per 1000 words | 0-3 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences ending with a question | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of sentences trailing off with ellipsis | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Question marks per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Quotation mark usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Exclamation marks per 1000 words | 0-46 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Hyphen usage per 1000 words | 0-39 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences ending with exclamation | 0 - 59 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Semicolon usage per 1000 words | 0-2 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Quotes & Narrative 10
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presence of dialogue attribution patterns | 4% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Use of story transitions | 14% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Average length of quoted passages | 0 - 32 | LOW | VARIES |
| Lines starting with quotation marks | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of quotation blocks | 0.0 - 0.8 | LOW | VARIES |
| Total characters in quoted content | 0 - 32 | LOW | VARIES |
| Lines using past tense | 53% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of narrative/story signals | 0.1 - 2.0 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether the post contains quotations | 32% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the post tells a story | 25% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Sentence Rhythm 16
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length of your shorter sentences (20th percentile) | 7 - 22 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Word count of shortest sentence | 7 - 22 | HIGH | STEADY |
| How much sentence length varies (normalized) | 25% | LOW | VARIES |
| Parenthetical breaks per 1000 words | 0-3 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences under 8 words | 7% | LOW | VARIES |
| Variation in clause count across sentences | 72% | LOW | VARIES |
| Variation in sentence lengths | 0.0 - 7.7 | LOW | VARIES |
| Average number of clauses per sentence | 1.3 - 2.8 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average number of words per sentence | 11 - 24 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average words per sentence | 11 - 24 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How often paragraphs contain just one sentence | 35% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Length of your longer sentences (80th percentile) | 14 - 27 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Overall sentence complexity | 13 - 62 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of sentences over 20 words | 33% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Typical sentence length (median) | 11 - 24 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Word count of the longest sentence | 13 - 29 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
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