This document provides a guide to developing a consistent tone of voice for business communications. It recommends identifying a company's core values, choosing appropriate vocabulary, and considering humor. Key steps include getting input from employees, analyzing customer language, limiting jargon, and governing tone of voice across all copy. The goal is to express a brand's personality in a distinctive yet understandable way.

1. Finding Your
Brand’s Voice
A short and sweet guide to developing
a tone of voice in business copy

2. Tone of voice is…
Not just what you say, but how you say it,
i.e. your particular choice of words,
phrases and grammar.

3. Tone of voice is…
About speaking to your audience in a way
that is both consistent and considered
across all of your external communications.

4. Having an established tone of voice:
• Builds trust through familiarity
• Expresses personality
• Sets you apart from other companies

5. It helps turn your business into a brand.
In other words…

6. Here is a step by step guide,
complete with exercises.
Ready to find your brand’s voice?

7. Pin down your
basic values
Step 1

8. e.g.
fun ease of mind fairness justice luxury
adventure community the environment
excitement progress efficiency family
What does your company stand for?

9. e.g.
Apple: innovate, inspire, dream
innocent: cheeky, fun, everyday
Red Bull: adventure, try, adrenaline*
Strong brands bring to mind
specific words and ideas.
*These are the author’s own associations.

10. e.g.
You bring a little fun wherever you go.
You believe in the power of new technology.
You care for the community.
What key messages are you
trying to tell the world?

11. If you’re lacking inspiration...

12. Asking workmates for their opinions
will, most likely, generate lots of
ideas and give you a well-rounded
sense of the company’s values.
Get others involved

13. Asking others for help will also encourage
the later adoption of the new tone of voice.
(People are more likely to jump onboard
something they have had involvement with.)
Get others involved

14. Hold a focus group where you ask people
to list words and phrases they either do,
or do not, associate with the company.
An idea:

15. Encourage people to explain where their
associations come from – you may spot
interesting stories or new angles.
An idea:

16. Think about
vocabulary
Step 2

17. Once you have decided what to say,
you can think about how to say it.

18. How formal should your language
generally be? (This will vary across different platforms.)
Formal
stiff
bland
serious authoritative
respectful
trustworthy
frivolous
disrespectful
reckless
characterful
fun
distinctive
Informal

19. Is slang, colloquial or bad language going
to build your voice? Or damage it?

20. What kinds of words and
phrases do they typically use?
How about mannerisms?
The answers to these questions will
depend on your target audience.

21. How would you tell them
about your company?
What kind of language would you use?
Your written copy should loosely
resemble your spoken words.
EXERCISE A
Imagine your target audience
stood in a room.

22. e.g.
Fruit drinks company, innocent
embraces simple, everyday language.

23. For example, in Twitter messages,
emails or product reviews. What words
and phrases are commonly used?
This will tell you about the kind of language
customers already associate with your brand.
EXERCISE B
Look at how your customers
write about your business.

24. Brands often take inspiration
from their audiences.

25. It is generally best to avoid unnecessary
jargon and technical terms. These can
alienate your audience and obscure meaning.
Technical language

26. However, sometimes technical
language is needed, such as when
referring to a highly niche subject.
Technical language

27. Decide which ones are necessary and
which ones should be substituted
for simpler language.
EXERCISE C
Draw up a list of technical terms and
acronyms commonly used in your industry.

28. A good test: If you are confident a term
can be understood by at least 95% of your
audience, it doesn’t need changing.
EXERCISE C
Draw up a list of technical terms and
acronyms commonly used in your industry.

29. Consider the role
of humour
Step 3

30. But is humour suitable for your brand?
And if it is, how can you best use humour?
Many online brands use comedy to
enliven their voice and add personality.

31. A few words of advice on humour

32. It’s best to laugh at yourself,
rather than your customer.
(i) Be humble

33. Check out this gem from
Dominoes, for example:

34. It can be tempting to crow-bar
jokes into sentences, resulting in
clumsy or awkward wording.
Consider more subtle, gentle forms of
humour that can lighten your copy.
(ii) Be gentle

35. e.g.
UK clothing brand Ted Baker is a dab-
hand at subtle humour. For example, its
blog title uses a lovely bit of alliteration.

36. The most important thing is that your
copy is clear and easy to understand.
The rule? If in doubt, leave your joke out.
(iii) Don’t sacrifice clarity

37. e.g.
Email provider MailChimp finds fun
yet simple ways to say things.

38. Tell the whole
company
Step 4

39. Those who write external communications
must get to grips with the tone of voice.
Everyone should be aware of the tone
of voice and what it stands for.

40. • Is written in the tone of voice itself
• Lists examples of specific words and
phrases that are appropriate
• Gives examples of copy for
different mediums
• Includes a memorable summary page
with an acronym such as Moz’s TAGFEE
Create a tone of voice guide that:

41. • Someone should be in charge of
making sure the tone of voice is
maintained across all relevant copy
• A clearly defined editorial process should
be set in place whereby copy that does not
meet standards is weeded out and fixed
Introduce governance

42. Once you’ve found your voice, don’t be
afraid to start using it! After all, it’s a unique
expression of who you are as a company.
If you’d like to learn more about developing
a tone of voice, see our training guide.
And there you have it.