Understanding your tone of voice
A tone of voice is not what you say, but how you say it and includes the words you choose and their order, rhythm and pace. Rather confusingly. The phrase ‘tone of voice’ refers to written – rather than spoken – words. A company’s tone of voice will direct all of it’s written copy, including its website, social media messages, emails and packaging.
Why is tone of voice important?
It expresses the personality behind the brand – It’s not just what a company does, but who it is that makes it a brand. A tone of voice demonstrates and verbalises the brand’s personality and values. People that make up the brand – the things that drive them, their loves and hates, and what they choose to share with the world.
It sets you apart from the competition – A brand’s tone of voice should be distinctive, recognisable and unique to them. You may think this is difficult to achieve but consider this. We all use our own language and way of saying things in everyday life. We all communicate and speak in our own way. Culture and dialect are the most significant factors, but we each have our own idiosyncrasies, favourite expressions, and inflections, pace and so forth.
It creates trust – There is a strong link between trust and familiarity. When something is familiar, it requires little effort to understand, and we are likely to feel comfortable around it. When a company shows consistency in its writing, it becomes familiar to the customer. Creating a specific tone of voice plays a crucial part in this.
It influences and persuades – As American author, Maya Angelou once said, “People don’t always remember what you say or even what you do, but they always remember how you made them feel.” The way we say something can generate a range of feelings in others. People form impressions of others as soon as they begin to hear or read their words.
What is written tone of voice?
Written tone of voice is simply the ‘personality’ of your brand or company as demonstrated through the written word. Tone of voice dictates what you can write and how you phrase it – the content and style of textual communications, in any form.
Why bother about written tone of voice?
Consistency is the real reason people bother with having a written tone of voice. It provides a unifying theme across all of your communications, internal and external. Just as it’s desirable to have a consistent look and feel in design terms, so it’s also worthwhile ensuring that the content of all these communications feels like it’s coming from a single point of contact.
Defining your key messages
Key messages are the main points you want your target audience to hear and remember. They create meaning and showcase the elements you want to discuss. They provide a framework for you to control communications, generate and build relationships with your target audiences and are a key element of any PR campaign.
Establishing your key messages, ensures you get your point across. Here’s what to think about when creating your key messages:
Ask yourself questions
• Is it believable?
• Is it easy to understand?
• Is it positive?
• Is it targeted and on track?
Keep it simple – You shouldn’t be writing ‘War and Peace’ – keep your key messages short and specific. Work out the most important core messages that you need to convey and write simply but with enough interest to generate a response in your reader.
Targeted messaging – Remember who you’re talking to! What do they need and want to hear from you? You may have a number of target audiences? If that is the case, ensure you tailor your target messages to each different group and avoid a ‘one size, fits all’ approach.
Take Control – Sometimes things can get lost in translation. Influencing the perceptions of your target audiences is not simple. However, developing key messages that are clear, concise, honest and positive will put you in control and allows you to influence your audience in the most compelling way.
Keep Refreshing – Nothing lasts forever – ensure you review and refresh your key messages. Everything changes over time so going through this process is key in making sure they are still relevant and reflect your core business messages.
To summarise:
Always consider whether they are relevant, positive, and consistent? If you see that this is the case, it won’t be long before your audience perceives you as an expert in your sector.
