This document discusses voice and tone strategy across Intuit brands. It begins with an introduction to voice, tone, and character for brands. It then discusses carrying voice consistently across customer touchpoints for TurboTax. It provides examples of flexing voice and tone based on customer needs and situations. The document also discusses expanding Intuit's voice to new products and platforms in a consistent way. Speakers then share experiences with voice strategy at their companies. Overall, the document provides guidance on developing and implementing a unified voice strategy consistently across brands, products, and customer experiences.

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Wi-Fi
IntuitGuest
Wi-Fi: IntuitGuest
#sfcs
#contentstrategy
#contentdesign

3. Voice, tone, content, design, strategy, surprises
Now we’re talking
John Caldwell, Intuit TurboTax
Karin Ikavalko, PayPal
Josslyn Mikow, eBay
Sarah Smart, Adobe
Angela Browne, Intuit QuickBooks
Questions, discoveries, prizes

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John Caldwell
Intuit TurboTax
Voice and tone—a journey

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What is it?
Intro: Voice and tone strategy
The differences between character, voice, and tone
Character
Our brand character is an expression of our core values and characteristic attributes. It captures the essence of who we
are and how we want to be perceived by current and prospective customers. The sum of all of our communications
should reinforce our brand character.
Voice
Voice is a reflection of our character: The empowering mentor. It’s the relationship we create with our customers through
the written word. It’s who we are, how we show up, and what we believe. We flex voice based on touch points and
broader experiences.
Tone
While voice is a reflection of our character, tone is our mood. We flex tone based on in-the-moment situations. It’s how we
feel right now, the emotion we tap into. Context is key in flexing our tone. For example: We aren’t lighthearted if we’re
asking people to do something difficult, nor are we celebratory if we’re delivering a less than positive result.

6. GOAL
Here’s what we need
to do to engage
customers and gain
their loyalty.
OUR CHARACTER
This is who we need to be to meet those needs… “this” not “that.”
Industry
trends
Case for
change
PRINCIPLES
This is how we bring our character to life, the relationship we create with our voice.
EXAMPLES
This is what’s possible when we apply our principles.
CUSTOMER NEEDS AND DESIRES
This can include their fears, their wants, and their aspirations.
What does it mean for us?
Voice and tone strategy

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Discover Define Design Deliver
V & T Strategy
Broader strategy
What does it mean for us?
Voice and tone strategy

8. Part 1
Go from transactional to relational
The challenge

9. CONTENT STRATEGY
A new goal…
Go beyond ease and accuracy to
create an emotionally engaged
relationship with our customers

10. CONTENT STRATEGY
Provocations

11. HERO
MENTOR

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CONTENT STRATEGY
Empowering voice | The customer and TurboTax
Empowering mentor attributes
Authentic, but not gratuitous
Insightful, but not teachy
Wise, but not preachy
Customer needs
Feel confident they can do it
Know it’s done right
Get their biggest refund
Mentor desires
To provide knowledge and tools
To inspire with wisdom and insight
To help the hero succeed
Customer desires
To do their taxes their way
To feel good about their money
To succeed (be a hero!)
+
HERO
MENTOR
Engaging with TurboTax in the campaign, front door, tax prep, and post file...

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Taxes are just a means for our customers to gain control over
their money and their future. Show them the power of this
challenge and reward them for taking it on. But respect
boundaries. Some just want to get their taxes done.
Empower them
CONTENT STRATEGY
Voice and tone principles
They’re brave enough to do their own taxes, but this can make
them vulnerable. Be compassionate, and respect their situation.
Don’t say things that could set them up for shame, such as “this
will always be easy.”
Consider their vulnerability
Our customers’ power lies in the future not the past. Expand the
conversation beyond the tax year. Talk about how their taxes and
their money relate to their awesome future selves.
Talk about opportunities
Move from language that’s only focused on actions and tasks to
language that speaks to thoughts and feelings. Bring some
maturity into the relationship with more “above the neck” verbs,
such as “plan” or “consider.”
Speak to their higher self
Explain topics in various ways, using personalized info and
differing presentation mediums. When possible, use metaphors
and other storytelling techniques to deliver understanding.
Help them understand

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Part 2
The challenge
Carry our voice from end to end

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Customer needs vary across multiple touchpoints...
…but our character is the same.

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CONTENT STRATEGY
Flexing the
champion voice
Our voice always is a friendly
expert who inspires
confidence. We subtly flex this
voice to meet varying
customer needs in key areas
and touchpoints across the tax
prep experience and beyond.
This is a flex in voice not tone,
as tone is more immediate
and contextual. Voice flexes to
meet bigger needs across a
broader experience or topic.
• Self-help, FAQs
Engaging • Honorable
• Understanding
• Insightful
• Zealous
• Turbo
• MyTT post-file
• Financial apps
• Care
• Considering a
financial service
• Sharing their info
• Signing up for help
• Make good decisions
• Avoid surprises and
blindsides
• Build trust our app

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CONTENT STRATEGY
Customer touchpoints
Flexes in voice meet customers where they
engage with us both inside and outside of
tax prep.
Engaging

18. Expand our voice to new
products and platforms
The challenge
Part 3

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Our voice in Turbo will always:
• Be conversational
• Maintain credibility
• Guide the customer
• Demystify the complex
But so will our competitors.
Honorable, but not arrogant
Understanding, but not judgmental
Insightful, but not pushy
Zealous, but not obnoxious
3
2
1
TURBO VOICE AND TONE
Table stakes and strategy
4
Table stakes Strategic
Turbo must also be...

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TURBO VOICE AND TONE
Turbo examples: Table stakes
Demystify the complexGuide the customerMaintain credibilityBe conversational

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Understanding, but not judgmental
Honorable, but not arrogant Insightful, but not pushy Zealous, but not obnoxious
TURBO VOICE AND TONE
Turbo examples: Strategically different

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TURBO VOICE AND TONE
Flexing our voice
ENGAGING
When in… The customer needs… We become…
• Turbo Product
experience
• All Turbo Mktg.
touchpoints
• Honorable
• Understanding
• Insightful
• Zealous
• Know where I stand, reassurance I’m on the right
track & know what to do next
• Feel confident, competent & optimistic Feel accepted,
no judgement
PERSUASIVE EMPOWERING RELATABLE
Unique to
Shared w/
Top/Mid Funnel Mktg,
Email, Turbo Offers
When In
Customer
Needs
• Certainty about a choice
• Know situation is
covered
• Best value
• Motivating
• Straight Forward
• Credible
We
Become
Top/Mid Funnel Mktg,
Social, Prod Advice
When In
Customer
Needs
• Feel confident
• Know they can do it
• Authentic
• Inspiring
• Empowering
We
Become
Social, Self help, EmailWhen In
Customer
Needs
• feel heard
• build trust
• understand their
situation
• Helpful
• Empathetic
• Ingenious
We
Become

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Example: Playfulness
Playfulness can strip negative feelings away.
But being playful or clever is not an end in
itself. It’s a means to an end: The emotional
connection underlying it.
The desired customer response:
“Wow. You get me.”
“Hah! That’s funny because it’s true.”
“I feel so much better now that you pointed
that out.”
While voice is a reflection of our character, tone is our momentary mood.
It’s powerful, but context and timing are key.
Customer: “I want you to
turn my negative feelings
about finances into
positive ones.”
Possible flexes in tone:
• Playfulness
• Commiserating
• Sympathy
• Celebratory
• Humorous
TURBO VOICE AND TONE
Flexing our tone

24. Part 4
…OK, whoa!
The challenge
One voice to rule them all…

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CONTENT STRATEGY
One Intuit

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Building and evolving
We understand and respect the building nature of the relationship with the customer, going from just
getting to know them in the beginning to offering insight and advocacy as the relationship evolves.
We flex our voice to meet varying customer needs in key areas and touchpoints across the tax prep
experience and beyond.
Leaning in and out
We know when to lean in with our wisdom and knowledge, and when to step back, letting the
customer take the reigns.
Flexing your voice
Wrap up: Consider...

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Josslyn Mikow
eBay
Using technology to deliver our humanity

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A little about moi
1. What I do for work
2. What I do for not-work
3. What I believe

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While technology will forever be
at the mercy of what’s next,
empathy, vulnerability, and
authenticity have always paved
the way for humankind.

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Decibels categorize our tone options

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HUMANITY IS THE FUTURE.

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HUMANITY IS THE FUTURE,
DELIVERED THROUGH ROBOTS.

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1. You admire a character for trying
more than for their successes.
2. You gotta keep in mind what's
interesting to you as an audience, not
what's fun to do as a writer. They can
be very different.
3. Trying for theme is important, but
you won't see what the story is actually
about til you're at the end of it. Now
rewrite.
4. Once upon a time there was ___.
Every day, ___. One day ___. Because
of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until
finally ___.
5. Simplify. Focus. Combine characters.
Hop over detours. You'll feel like you're
losing valuable stuff but it sets you
free.
6. What is your character good at,
comfortable with? Throw the polar
opposite at them. Challenge them. How
do they deal?
7. Come up with your ending before
you figure out your middle. Seriously.
Endings are hard, get yours working up
front.
8. Finish your story, let go even if it's
not perfect. In an ideal world you have
both, but move on. Do better next
time.
9. When you're stuck, make a list of
what WOULDN'T happen next. Lots of
times the material to get you unstuck
will show up.
10. Pull apart the stories you like. What
you like in them is a part of you; you've
got to recognize it before you can use
it.
11. Putting it on paper lets you start
fixing it. If it stays in your head, a
perfect idea, you'll never share it with
anyone.
12. Discount the 1st thing that comes
to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th –
get the obvious out of the way.
Surprise yourself.
13. Give your characters opinions.
Passive/malleable might seem likeable
to you as you write, but it's poison to
the audience.
14. Why must you tell THIS story?
What's the belief burning within you
that your story feeds off of? That's the
heart of it.
15. If you were your character, in this
situation, how would you feel? Honesty
lends credibility to unbelievable
situations.
16. What are the stakes? Give us
reason to root for the character. What
happens if they don't succeed? Stack
the odds against.
17. No work is ever wasted. If it's not
working, let go and move on - it'll come
back around to be useful later.
18. You have to know yourself: the
difference between doing your best &
fussing. Story is testing, not refining.
19. Coincidences to get characters into
trouble are great; coincidences to get
them out of it are cheating.
20. Exercise: take the building blocks of
a movie you dislike. How d'you
rearrange them into what you DO like?
21. You gotta identify with your
situation/characters, can't just write
‘cool'. What would make YOU act that
way?
22. What's the essence of your story?
Most economical telling of it? If you
know that, you can build out from
there.
PIXAR’S 22 RULES
OF STORYTELLING
BY EMMA COATS

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Karin Ikavalko
PayPal
Voice at scale

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Voice at scale

39. Principles
• Ask why
• Start with empathy
• Consider messaging
• Guidelines and
frameworks
• Collaborate with
partners
• Influence and socialize

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Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk:
https://youtu.be/sioZd3AxmnE

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People will forget what you said, people
will forget what you did, but people will
never forget how you made them feel.
─ Maya Angelou

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What you say matters
as much as how you say it

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Guidelines &
Frameworks

44. Customer Journey

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Engage your partners
Voice isn’t just words

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Know your audience
Speak their language

47. Principles
• Ask why
• Start with empathy
• Consider messaging
• Guidelines and
frameworks
• Collaborate with
partners
• Influence and socialize

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Sarah Smart
Adobe
Entertaining in small spaces

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Entertaining in small spaces
Using voice and tone in a mobile experience
Sarah Smart, Sr. UX Content Strategist, Adobe

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Clean.
Be direct.
● Get to the point.
● Use powerful verbs.
● Enforce consistency.

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Don’t Do

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Create
ambience.
Be human.
● Keep it casual.
● Have a conversation.
● Don’t leave ’em hanging.

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Don’t Do

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Invite your
guests.
Be engaging.
● Speak to your audience.
● Express your point of
view.
● Include everybody.

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Don’t Do

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To review
You CAN entertain in a small
space!
All you have to do is...
● Be direct.
● Be human.
● Be engaging.

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Thank you!
@sarahmsmart

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Angela Browne
Intuit QuickBooks
Simplifying and teaching voice

60. Hey, QB. How’s it going out
there?

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• Interviewed content designers
about the onboarding process
• “Audited” voice reviews
• Interviewed content designers
about executing on the system
Interviewing everyone

62. Simplicity and education

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What we can improve
• Simplify everything
• More examples
• Slack channel
Education

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What’s working
• Having one system that
housed all the voice and
tone resources
• 1-on-1 coaching
• Relatable, hands on practice
• “Do this, not that” examples
• Flexing
Education

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Do this not that

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Flexing

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Teeha!

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Questions
Don’t be shy

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