Tone of voice: how to make the company sound like one company

Tone of voice is a set of rules that describe how a company sounds: which words it uses, how it addresses the customer and what it avoids. Thanks to it, a proposal, the website, a social media post and an email from a salesperson all sound like one company, no matter who wrote them.

What is tone of voice?

Tone of voice is the answer to the question of how the company sounds when it talks to the customer. Not what it says, but how.

Two companies can have the same message and sound completely different: one formal and distant, the other human and specific. Tone of voice captures that difference and writes it down so it can be applied every day. A good tone of voice document has three parts:

• character: a few traits that describe the company's tone, with an explanation of what each means in practice,
• vocabulary: the words the company uses and the words it avoids, together with product names and ways of addressing the customer,
• examples: the same content written well and badly: a headline, a reply to a complaint, a product description, a social media post.

How do we develop a tone of voice?

1. We listen to how the company speaks today. We review the website, proposals, emails and social media. We talk to the people who write to customers and check which materials sound right and which stand out.
2. We define the character. Together with you we choose three or four traits and describe what they mean in practice, including what the company does not want to be.
3. We write the vocabulary and examples. We record phrases, names and forms, and illustrate every rule with an example from your industry so that nothing needs interpreting.
4. We roll it out to the team. We hand the document to the people who write on behalf of the company and walk them through the first materials written under the new rules.

What do you get?

• a tone of voice document with character, vocabulary and examples, ready to hand to your team and agencies,
• a short one-page version for everyday use,
• a review of current materials with notes on what needs adjusting,
• support with the first texts written under the new rules.

When is it worth writing down your tone of voice?

• when the company's materials sound different depending on who prepared them,
• when several agencies or freelancers work with the company and each writes in their own way,
• when the team is growing and new people need to learn quickly how the company speaks,
• when the company is entering a new market and needs rules that survive translation.

Frequently asked questions