Josh Bradley'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
See example from 08 Jan 2025
Does Less Of...
Patterns you use less often - that's part of your style too!
Your AuthorDNA Profile
You probably didn't realize, but your posts contain 6 times more neutral or functional emoji than the average LinkedIn user - and you pack emoji into 5 times more of your lines. It's not just a sprinkle - it's a signature. While most people agonize over which smiley to drop at the end, you treat emoji like punctuation, weaving them into your sentences as a matter of habit.
This relentless emoji presence does something most can't pull off: it signals approachability and clarity, but never lapses into forced cheer. Now try briefing that to a ghostwriter. Tell them to make every sixth sentence carry a neutral emoji, double up on lowercase hashtags, and keep the emoji-per-sentence ratio six times higher than the norm. They'd have no idea where to start - because this isn't style, it's instinct. It's not even something you could reproduce on command.
And here's the kicker: you post less than once a week, yet your patterns are unmistakable. This is exactly what Drumbeat captures - the quirks you can't articulate but your readers sense instantly. Your company's message, in each team member's authentic voice, at scale.
Signature Phrases
Your most frequently used words and phrases
Posting Consistency
14 May 2018 - 05 Nov 2024
Deep Dive
Explore all 17 categories of writing style
Call-to-Action Patterns 7
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether CTAs are concentrated at the end of the post | 9% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether CTAs include hashtags | 18% of posts | HIGH | VARIES |
| CTAs phrased as questions vs statements | 2% | LOW | VARIES |
| Average position of CTAs in the post | Near top | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| CTAs using command verbs (Click, Share, Comment, etc.) | 7% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether CTAs include emoji | 11% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether any call-to-action exists | 64% of posts | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Emoji Usage 38
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average emoji per line of text | 42% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Average number of emoji appearing together in clusters | 31% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of neutral/functional emoji | 0.4 - 3.3 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Count of positive/celebratory emoji | 0.0 - 0.8 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Emoji count relative to sentence count | 53% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Emoji density in CTA sections | 0 - 116 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Emoji density in the hook section | 6 - 47 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Emoji usage in the middle section of the post | 0 - 56 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Emoji used to replace words entirely | 7% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Largest group of adjacent emoji | 31% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of emoji clusters (groups of adjacent emoji) | 0.0 - 0.5 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of emoji in call-to-action lines | 0.0 - 1.5 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Number of emoji in the opening hook | 0.4 - 1.7 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are neutral/functional | 94% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of lines containing at least one emoji | 40% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of emoji appearing in clusters | 8% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Variety of different emoji used (unique/total ratio) | 28% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the post starts with an emoji | 8% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Average distance between repeated emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of negative/warning emoji | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| How consistently emoji pair with specific words | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| How consistently the same emoji is used for bullets | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of bullet point lines using emoji as markers | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are 'corpspeak' type | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are negative/warning | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of lines that contain only emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Proportion of emoji that appear multiple times | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Variety of different emoji used as bullets | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether emoji are used as bullet point markers | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Balance between positive and negative emoji | 6% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Consistency of emoji bullet indentation | 0% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Emoji count per 1000 words | 8% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| How often the same emoji repeats across the post | 3% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Number of different emoji types used | 0.0 - 1.7 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of emoji that are positive/celebratory | 6% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Total count of repeated emoji across the post | 0.0 - 0.7 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Total number of emoji in the post | 0.0 - 1.9 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether any emoji are used in the post | 29% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Formality & Tone 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count of positive contractions used | 84% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of different contraction types | 91% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Percentage of words that are contractions | 1% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of positive contractions (it's, I'm, we're) | 1% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Variety of different contractions used | 51% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Count of negative contractions used | 9% | LOW | VARIES |
| Ratio of negative to positive contractions | 1:11 | LOW | VARIES |
| Total number of contractions | 93% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of negative contractions (don't, won't, can't) | 17% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Function Words 21
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usage of 'a' per 1000 words | 0 - 65 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'as' per 1000 words | 0-25 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'at' per 1000 words | 0 - 27 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'by' per 1000 words | 0-26 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'if' per 1000 words | 0-15 per 1k words | HIGH | 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 'is' per 1000 words | 0-14 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'so' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'who' per 1000 words | 0-3 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Overall grammatical word usage | 134 - 265 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'and' per 1000 words | 3 - 42 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'for' per 1000 words | 0 - 28 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'of' per 1000 words | 0 - 39 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'on' per 1000 words | 0 - 24 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'that' per 1000 words | 0-16 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'the' per 1000 words | 2 - 55 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'to' per 1000 words | 6 - 46 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'which' per 1000 words | 0-3 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'with' per 1000 words | 0-23 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variety of function words used | 36% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Hashtag Usage 12
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average character length of hashtags | 7 - 13 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Hashtag density per 100 words | 0 - 10 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of all-lowercase hashtags | 80% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags in ALL CAPS | 8% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags in the opening | 31% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags placed at the end | 57% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags woven into the text | 12% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Ratio of inline hashtags to end hashtags | 0 - 253 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the opening line contains a hashtag | 43% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags using CamelCase | 12% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Total number of hashtags | 0.2 - 4.5 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether any hashtags are used | 67% of posts | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Opening Hooks 14
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Negation words in the hook | 0.0 - 0.5 | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether the hook contains a question | 7% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether the hook starts with a conjunction | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether there's a clear opening hook section | 13% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| ALL CAPS words in the hook | 2% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Character count of the hook | 151 - 360 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Character position where the hook ends | 151 - 360 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hook length relative to total post | 79% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hook lines relative to total lines | 67% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of emoji in the hook | 0.0 - 0.7 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Use of 'you/your' in the hook | 2% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Where LinkedIn's 'see more' cuts off | 79% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether the hook contains emoji | 18% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether there's a blank line after the hook | 16% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Line Structure 18
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of very short lines (<5 words) | 19% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Percentage of single-word lines | 1% | LOW | STEADY |
| 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 |
| Variation in block sizes | 12% | LOW | VARIES |
| Average characters per line | 41 - 260 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average lines per text block | 0.9 - 1.2 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average spacing between blank lines | 0.2 - 2.3 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average words per line | 6 - 43 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Blank lines per 100 total lines | 9 - 47 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Lines containing exactly one sentence | 54% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of visual text blocks | 1.0 - 5.0 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Predictability of line length pattern | Very consistent | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Proportion of blank space | 28% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with quotes | 1% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Spacing between content-rich lines | 0.4 - 2.3 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in line lengths | 0 - 625 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
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 |
| 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 |
| Use of inline enumeration | 1% | TYPICAL | 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 | 23 - 61 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How often three-word phrases repeat | 74% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| How often two-word phrases repeat | 0.0 - 7.6 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Length of longest repeated phrase | 100% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Number of unique words used | 26 - 73 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words used only once | 87% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Ratio of meaningful words to grammatical words | 5% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Unique words divided by total words | 85% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Sentence Openings 16
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count of sentences starting with -ing verbs | 0.0-0.7 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with adverbs | 0.0-0.7 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 | 0.0-0.9 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with time words | 0.0-0.5 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with -ing verbs (%) | 5% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with Actually, Basically, etc. (%) | 2% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with adverbs (%) | 8% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with subordinate clauses (%) | 6% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with time words (%) | 2% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with There is/It is | ~0.0 per post | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of sentences starting with conjunctions | ~0.0 per post | LOW | STEADY |
| Sentences starting with 'There is/are' or 'It is' (%) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Sentences starting with And, But, Or, So (%) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of sentences starting with pronouns | 0.0-1.1 per post | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with pronouns (I, You, We, They) (%) | 0 - 30 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Closing Patterns 11
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the closing has emoji clusters | 4% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the ending includes emoji | 24% of posts | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the ending includes hashtags | 67% of posts | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether the closing has a signature phrase | 9% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| ALL CAPS words in the closing | 2% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Character length of the closing | 143 - 391 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Closing length relative to total post | 82% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of emoji in the closing | 0.0 - 0.9 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the ending has a call-to-action | 24% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the ending is a question | 11% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether there's a clear closing section | 60% of posts | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Paragraph Structure 13
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closing paragraph length vs body average | 93% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Opening paragraph length vs body average | 2% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Consecutive long paragraphs | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| How much paragraph length varies | 78% | LOW | VARIES |
| Average change in length between paragraphs | 73% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 1.0 - 2.7 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 1.0 - 2.7 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Consecutive short paragraphs | 0.3 - 4.6 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How frequently new paragraphs start | 25 - 84 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your longer paragraphs (80th percentile) | 1.4 - 3.4 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total number of paragraphs | 1.0 - 5.0 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Typical paragraph length (median) | 0.7 - 2.6 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in length changes between paragraphs | 73% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Parts of Speech 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balance/distribution of different word types | Moderately varied | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of auxiliary/helper verbs | 4% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are adjectives | 8% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are adverbs | 2% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are determiners | 8% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are nouns | 16 - 35 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are prepositions | 9 - 16 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are pronouns | 6% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are verbs | 6 - 15 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Post Basics 7
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total sentence count | 1.8 - 5.4 | LOW | STEADY |
| Average word complexity (syllables per word) | 1.5 - 1.8 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Count of complex words (3+ syllables) | 4 - 17 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How easy the text is to read (higher = easier) | 29 - 71 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of complex words (3+ syllables) | 11 - 24 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total syllables in the post | 43 - 155 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total word count of the post | 26 - 97 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Punctuation Style 17
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Exclamation marks per 1000 words | 0-15 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Hyphen usage per 1000 words | 0-12 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| 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 | 0-2 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences ending with a question | 2% | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences ending with exclamation | 7% | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences trailing off with ellipsis | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Question marks per 1000 words | 0-9 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Quotation mark usage per 1000 words | 0-7 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Semicolon usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Colon usage per 1000 words | 0-32 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Comma usage per 1000 words | 4-60 per 1k words | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Quotes & Narrative 10
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average length of quoted passages | 0 - 159 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the post contains quotations | 56% of posts | HIGH | STEADY |
| Presence of dialogue attribution patterns | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Lines starting with quotation marks | 1% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Lines using past tense | 37% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Number of narrative/story signals | 0.4 - 2.1 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of quotation blocks | 0.0 - 1.5 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Total characters in quoted content | 0 - 169 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Use of story transitions | 12% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the post tells a story | 44% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Sentence Rhythm 16
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Word count of shortest sentence | 0 - 27 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Parenthetical breaks per 1000 words | 0-5 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Variation in clause count across sentences | 0.0 - 2.5 | LOW | VARIES |
| Average number of clauses per sentence | 1.2 - 3.2 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average number of words per sentence | 4 - 33 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average words per sentence | 4 - 33 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How much sentence length varies (normalized) | 50% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How often paragraphs contain just one sentence | 54% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your longer sentences (80th percentile) | 10 - 42 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your shorter sentences (20th percentile) | 0 - 28 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Overall sentence complexity | 0 - 148 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences over 20 words | 32% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of sentences under 8 words | 22% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Typical sentence length (median) | 4 - 33 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in sentence lengths | 2 - 14 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Word count of the longest sentence | 11 - 43 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
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