Steve Knight'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
Percentage of lines containing at least one emoji
7x more signature
Number of emoji in call-to-action lines
7x more signature
Percentage of emoji that are positive/celebratory
10x more distinctive
See example from 01 Dec 2025
Balance between positive and negative emoji
11x more distinctive
Average emoji per line of text
7x more Number of emoji in the opening hook
6x more Emoji count relative to sentence count
5x more consistent
Does Less Of...
Patterns you use less often - that's part of your style too!
Negation words in the hook
rarely consistent
Consecutive long paragraphs
rarely consistent
CTAs phrased as questions vs statements
rarely consistent
Percentage of words that are nouns
1.4x less Signature = unique to you
| Distinctive = stands out from average
| Consistent = reliable pattern
Your AuthorDNA Profile
You probably didn't realize, but your posts are an emoji supernova: 7x more lines with emojis than the average LinkedIn user, and a whopping 10x more positive or celebratory ones. Your call-to-action lines? Absolutely drenched in emoji - again, 7x more than most. It's not just that you use emojis - it's that you radiate positivity with them, balancing upbeat signals 11x more than the norm.
This relentless optimism does something most writers can't: it signals warmth and energy without saying a word. Try briefing a ghostwriter to inject 7x more emoji, make 90% of them celebratory, and balance positivity 11x better than average - they'd think you were asking for a robot, not a writer. You couldn't reverse engineer this on purpose. It's not a style guide - it's hardwired into how you communicate.
And you do all this less than once a week. That's the Drumbeat difference - surfacing the patterns you can't see, but your audience feels. It's your true voice, decoded, ready to scale.
Signature Phrases
Your most frequently used words and phrases
Posting Consistency
07 Aug 2024 - 03 Dec 2025
0.3 posts/week avg
13/70 active weeks
57 inactive weeks
Deep Dive
Explore all 17 categories of writing style
Call-to-Action Patterns 7
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether CTAs include hashtags | 17% of posts | HIGH | VARIES |
| CTAs phrased as questions vs statements | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether CTAs are concentrated at the end of the post | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Average position of CTAs in the post | Near top | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| CTAs using command verbs (Click, Share, Comment, etc.) | 14% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether CTAs include emoji | 11% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether any call-to-action exists | 50% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Emoji Usage 38
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average emoji per line of text | 75% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Average number of emoji appearing together in clusters | 67% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Balance between positive and negative emoji | 47% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Count of neutral/functional emoji | 0.1 - 1.7 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Count of positive/celebratory emoji | 0.2 - 1.2 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Emoji count per 1000 words | 0 - 40 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Emoji count relative to sentence count | 48% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Emoji density in CTA sections | 15 - 50 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Emoji density in the hook section | 11 - 56 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Emoji used to replace words entirely | 22% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Largest group of adjacent emoji | 67% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of different emoji types used | 0.1 - 2.1 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Number of emoji clusters (groups of adjacent emoji) | 0.0 - 0.8 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Number of emoji in call-to-action lines | 0.5 - 2.0 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Number of emoji in the opening hook | 0.5 - 2.3 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are 'corpspeak' type | 4% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Percentage of emoji that are neutral/functional | 53% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are positive/celebratory | 47% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of lines containing at least one emoji | 56% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of lines that contain only emoji | 2% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of emoji appearing in clusters | 28% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Total number of emoji in the post | 0.1 - 2.1 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Variety of different emoji used (unique/total ratio) | 67% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether any emoji are used in the post | 67% of posts | HIGH | STEADY |
| Average distance between repeated emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of negative/warning emoji | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Emoji usage in the middle section of the post | 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 |
| How often the same emoji repeats across the post | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of bullet point lines using emoji as markers | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Percentage of emoji that are negative/warning | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Proportion of emoji that appear multiple times | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Total count of repeated emoji across the post | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Variety of different emoji used as bullets | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether emoji are used as bullet point markers | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the post starts with an emoji | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Consistency of emoji bullet indentation | 0% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Formality & Tone 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count of negative contractions used | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of positive contractions used | 11% | LOW | VARIES |
| Number of different contraction types | 11% | LOW | VARIES |
| Percentage of words that are contractions | 24% | LOW | VARIES |
| Ratio of negative to positive contractions | balanced | LOW | STEADY |
| Total number of contractions | 11% | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of negative contractions (don't, won't, can't) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of positive contractions (it's, I'm, we're) | 24% | LOW | VARIES |
| Variety of different contractions used | 11% | LOW | VARIES |
Function Words 21
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usage of 'at' per 1000 words | 0 - 38 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Usage of 'for' per 1000 words | 0 - 49 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Usage of 'as' per 1000 words | 0-5 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'because' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'but' per 1000 words | 0-1 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'by' per 1000 words | 0-6 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'is' per 1000 words | 0-12 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'so' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Usage of 'that' per 1000 words | 0-1 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Usage of 'which' per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Overall grammatical word usage | 139 - 250 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'a' per 1000 words | 0 - 40 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'and' per 1000 words | 0 - 48 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'if' per 1000 words | 0-16 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'of' per 1000 words | 0 - 23 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'on' per 1000 words | 0-20 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'the' per 1000 words | 14 - 63 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Usage of 'to' per 1000 words | 0 - 74 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'who' per 1000 words | 0-10 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Usage of 'with' per 1000 words | 0 - 22 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variety of function words used | 33% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Hashtag Usage 12
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average character length of hashtags | 4 - 14 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Proportion of hashtags in ALL CAPS | 29% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags in the opening | 46% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags using CamelCase | 36% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags woven into the text | 24% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Ratio of inline hashtags to end hashtags | 0 - 434 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the opening line contains a hashtag | 46% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Hashtag density per 100 words | 0.0 - 5.2 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Proportion of all-lowercase hashtags | 35% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Proportion of hashtags placed at the end | 30% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Total number of hashtags | 0.0 - 3.2 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether any hashtags are used | 61% of posts | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Opening Hooks 14
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALL CAPS words in the hook | 8% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Number of emoji in the hook | 0.0 - 1.8 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the hook contains emoji | 56% of posts | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether there's a blank line after the hook | 33% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Negation words in the hook | ~0.0 | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether the hook contains a question | 6% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether the hook starts with a conjunction | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether there's a clear opening hook section | 17% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Character count of the hook | 122 - 352 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Character position where the hook ends | 122 - 352 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hook length relative to total post | 77% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hook lines relative to total lines | 73% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Use of 'you/your' in the hook | 1% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Where LinkedIn's 'see more' cuts off | 77% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Line Structure 18
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of single-word lines | 3% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Ratio of lines starting with ALL CAPS | 6% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Ratio of lines starting with punctuation | 6% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Ratio of lines starting with numbers | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Ratio of lines starting with quotes | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Variation in block sizes | 17% | LOW | VARIES |
| Average characters per line | 55 - 240 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average lines per text block | 0.9 - 1.3 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average spacing between blank lines | 94% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Average words per line | 11 - 37 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Blank lines per 100 total lines | 12 - 44 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Lines containing exactly one sentence | 48% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Number of visual text blocks | 1.0 - 4.2 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of very short lines (<5 words) | 11% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Predictability of line length pattern | Very consistent | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Proportion of blank space | 28% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Spacing between content-rich lines | 0.7 - 2.3 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in line lengths | 0 - 463 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
List Patterns 15
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 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 | 6% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether emoji bullet lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Whether numbered lists are used | 0% of posts | LOW | STEADY |
| Average items per dash/bullet list | 22% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Number of dash/bullet list sections | 0.0 - 0.3 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether dash/bullet lists are used | 6% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
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 | 16 - 72 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How often three-word phrases repeat | 67% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| How often two-word phrases repeat | 0.0 - 6.8 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Length of longest repeated phrase | 0.0 - 2.5 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Number of unique words used | 14 - 89 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words used only once | 89% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Ratio of meaningful words to grammatical words | 4% | 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 | 0.0-0.8 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Count of sentences starting with subordinate clauses | 0.0-0.3 per post | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with -ing verbs (%) | 8% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with adverbs (%) | 6% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with subordinate clauses (%) | 62% | 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 |
| Count of sentences starting with time words | ~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 |
| Sentences starting with time words (%) | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Count of sentences starting with discourse markers | ~0.0 per post | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Count of sentences starting with pronouns | 0.0-1.1 per post | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Sentences starting with Actually, Basically, etc. (%) | 0% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Sentences starting with pronouns (I, You, We, They) (%) | 0 - 42 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Closing Patterns 11
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALL CAPS words in the closing | 8% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Number of emoji in the closing | 0.0 - 1.9 | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the closing has a signature phrase | 28% of posts | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the closing has emoji clusters | 22% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Whether the ending includes emoji | 61% of posts | HIGH | STEADY |
| Whether the ending is a question | 6% | LOW | VARIES |
| Character length of the closing | 150 - 389 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Closing length relative to total post | 87% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether the ending has a call-to-action | 28% of posts | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Whether the ending includes hashtags | 61% of posts | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Whether there's a clear closing section | 67% of posts | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Paragraph Structure 13
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closing paragraph length vs body average | 1% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Opening paragraph length vs body average | 1% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Consecutive long paragraphs | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| How much paragraph length varies | 57% | LOW | VARIES |
| Total number of paragraphs | 1.0 - 4.2 | LOW | STEADY |
| Average change in length between paragraphs | 62% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 1.1 - 2.5 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average sentences per paragraph | 1.1 - 2.5 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Consecutive short paragraphs | 0.4 - 3.8 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How frequently new paragraphs start | 30 - 64 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your longer paragraphs (80th percentile) | 1.5 - 3.1 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Typical paragraph length (median) | 0.9 - 2.4 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in length changes between paragraphs | 63% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Parts of Speech 9
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of auxiliary/helper verbs | 3% | LOW | VARIES |
| Balance/distribution of different word types | Fairly consistent | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are adjectives | 5% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are adverbs | 3% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Percentage of words that are determiners | 6% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are nouns | 6 - 25 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are prepositions | 8 - 17 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are pronouns | 8% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of words that are verbs | 5 - 16 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Post Basics 7
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total sentence count | 1.6 - 5.4 | LOW | STEADY |
| Average word complexity (syllables per word) | 1.4 - 1.9 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Count of complex words (3+ syllables) | 0 - 24 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| How easy the text is to read (higher = easier) | 26 - 75 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Percentage of complex words (3+ syllables) | 7 - 24 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total syllables in the post | 4 - 216 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Total word count of the post | 2 - 129 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
Punctuation Style 17
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comma usage per 1000 words | 8-119 per 1k words | HIGH | STEADY |
| Parentheses usage per 1000 words | 0-20 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences ending with exclamation | 4 - 61 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of sentences trailing off with ellipsis | 3% | HIGH | VARIES |
| Colon usage per 1000 words | 0-25 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| 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 |
| Percentage of sentences ending with a question | 2% | LOW | VARIES |
| Question marks per 1000 words | 0-10 per 1k words | LOW | VARIES |
| Quotation mark usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Semicolon usage per 1000 words | ~0 per 1k words | LOW | STEADY |
| Ellipsis (...) usage per 1000 words | 0-7 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Exclamation marks per 1000 words | 2-46 per 1k words | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Hyphen usage per 1000 words | 0-36 per 1k words | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Quotes & Narrative 10
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average length of quoted passages | 0 - 10 | LOW | VARIES |
| Lines starting with quotation marks | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Number of quotation blocks | 0.0 - 0.4 | LOW | VARIES |
| Presence of dialogue attribution patterns | 0% | LOW | STEADY |
| Total characters in quoted content | 0 - 10 | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether the post contains quotations | 11% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Whether the post tells a story | 17% of posts | LOW | VARIES |
| Lines using past tense | 30% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Number of narrative/story signals | 0.0 - 1.7 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Use of story transitions | 9% | TYPICAL | VARIES |
Sentence Rhythm 16
| Feature | Your DNA | vs Others | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parenthetical breaks per 1000 words | 0-19 per 1k words | HIGH | VARIES |
| Percentage of sentences over 20 words | 46% | HIGH | STEADY |
| Word count of shortest sentence | 1 - 19 | HIGH | STEADY |
| Percentage of sentences under 8 words | 21% | LOW | VARIES |
| Average number of clauses per sentence | 1.4 - 3.4 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average number of words per sentence | 12 - 28 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Average words per sentence | 12 - 28 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How much sentence length varies (normalized) | 61% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| How often paragraphs contain just one sentence | 47% | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your longer sentences (80th percentile) | 17 - 45 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Length of your shorter sentences (20th percentile) | 2 - 19 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Overall sentence complexity | 15 - 90 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Typical sentence length (median) | 10 - 28 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Variation in clause count across sentences | 0.0 - 4.7 | TYPICAL | VARIES |
| Variation in sentence lengths | 3 - 20 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
| Word count of the longest sentence | 17 - 48 | TYPICAL | STEADY |
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