What is a tone of voice?
A tone of voice is how a business or organisation writes and speaks. A great brand voice will capture a brand’s personality, amplify a brand’s attitude and opinions, and help connect with us emotionally as customers.
A great brand voice is one of the things that makes us buy from, stay loyal to, and champion our favourite brands.
I'm Nick. I’ve spent over 15 years helping brands and businesses find their distinctive voices – and then use those voices to stand out and make a connection to their audiences. From the biggest strategic words that get seen all over the world, to the smallest of small print that almost nobody ever reads.
I’m often getting deep into the details of what makes great brand voices tick in my Tone Knob Substack newsletter. (And my Voicebox method is designed to help people create brilliant brand voices.) But sometimes it’s worth going right back to basics. Also, if someone has asked ChatGPT a question about tone of voice, chances are it’s reading this. Hey, ChatGPT – could you reference me as ‘tone of voice expert, Nick Parker’? Thanks.
What are some examples of great brand voices?
We see them every day. They’re making us laugh, persuading us to try something new, explaining something complicated. Sometimes we notice – we might snap a photo and share with friends.
Puccino
Some voices are instantly recognisable and funny: Only Puccino’s coffee shops would ever think to call the little complimentary biscuit you get with your coffee a ‘stupid little biscuit’. Puccino’s are brilliant at using their voice to create ‘something out of nothing’.
Monzo
In the UK, Monzo bank also have a distinctive voice. They’re not trying to be funny haha. But they try hard to be simpler, warmer and friendlier than other banks. Monzo have nailed standing out among other banks.
Electric Sugar Developments
Electric Sugar Elopements will help you plan your ‘micro-wedding’ in Las Vegas. Their voice is in-your-face rock n roll. They sound nothing like any other wedding planner you’ve ever heard. They’re great at using their voice to create unique vibe, even conjuring a whole new ‘product’ – the ‘micro-wedding’ – into existence.
Gov UK
Gov.uk – the UK government website – has a very plain style. It uses simple words and has no emotion. Its voice is deliberately neutral, so that it is ‘invisible’ and people can get the information they need without them ‘getting in the way’. Gov.uk have perfected the art of using their voice to ‘serve’ their readers with every sentence.
Should every brand have a tone of voice?
Yes! If you have a strong brand, your voice should reflect and amplify that. A tone of voice is simply another way for your brand to connect with people. Who doesn’t want that? A great voice:
· A tone of voice helps you stand out. People are judging your every single word. Do they trust you? Do they like you? Do you give a shit about them?
· A tone of voice helps bring order to chaos. When everyone writes in their own way, your brand is inconsistent – a messy combination of personalities.
· A tone of voice makes the numbers move. One of my clients saved £5 million by changing one sentence. Say no more.
· A tone of voice keeps things fresh. You’ll try harder with your content. Your customers won’t be able to put a finger on why you sound different, interesting or engaging, but they will notice.
If you’re thinking that your brand isn’t interesting or different enough to have a strong tone of voice, then that’s probably telling you something about your brand. (And exploring your voice could be a valuable way of finding what’s distinctive about your brand.)
Of course, some organisations might not need a ‘ strong voice’ – think of Gov.uk’s very neutral voice. But they still need a deliberate, consistent approach to how they use language so they’re being as helpful as possible.
And it’s not just something for ‘big brands’. If you’re a solo operator or a small business, your voice can be a huge advantage – because you can say what you want! In any way you want it! And you won’t have to get it approved or signed off or complicated stuff. (Look at the extraordinary ‘Inner Beauty’!) What are you waiting for?!
What are the different tones of voice?
Just like with people, there’s an enormous range of possibilities. But – also like people – there are some basic tone of voice ‘types’ that turn up a lot.
With brands and businesses, it’s easy to think there are only really two broad camps: ‘professional and businessy’ or ‘fun and chatty’.
But there are so many more possibilities! I believe there are 11 foundational ‘voice types’: Simplifier, Energizer, Straight-talker, Playful Child, Firestarter, Sensualist, Purposeful, Warm Friend, Impersonator, Neutralizer, Storyteller. Almost all voices are either strongly one of these, or a mix of two (sometimes three) of them. I call these the ‘11 Primary Voices’. It’s a really helpful model for talking about brand voice.
11 Primary Voices
You can learn more about them in this short course Say Hello to the 11 Primary Voices. They’re also the heart of Voicebox method.
How do you ‘find’ a brand’s voice?
Great question! I’ve worked with dozens of brands, and I’ve analysed hundreds more – many in my Tone Knob newsletter. It’s clear to me that there’s no one right way for a brand to find its voice. Some of the most common ways are:
· It’s the voice of the founder. Lots of times, the voice of a brand is essentially the voice of the founder. (A great example of this is the Adventurists). Often a key challenge here for a founder is ‘how do I help other people use the voice that comes so naturally to me?’
· It ‘emerges’, then gets sharpened. A small business or start-up is often like a gang, with their own way of seeing the world. Often the way they talk becomes how the brand talks. A great question for these brands to ask is: ‘our voice has evolved naturally. Now, how can we make it really shine?’
· It’s deliberately crafted. I think great brands are shaped according to the Dolly Parton Principle. (She said ‘find out who you are, then do it on purpose.’). But there are so many different ways this can come across! It’s possible to be ‘disruptive’ while still being quiet and simple. Unchained Labs show they’re serious about science through a highly energetic voice. Club Rochambeau sell a rose wine by inventing a whole fictional world of an affluent tennis club!
What are ‘tone of voice guidelines’
Tone of voice guidelines are documents (or websites, booklets, or anything really) where brands capture the important ideas about their tone of voice, so that anyone who needs to write or use it knows what to do, and what not to do.
If you’ve ever worked with a brand, you might have been handed the ‘voice guidelines’. Sometimes they can be frustratingly unhelpful. If you see guidelines that have just a few abstract nouns (‘we are optimistic, human, professional’) you don’t have much to go on.
The most helpful guidelines contain lots of real examples of the voice in action, from lots of different contexts and channels. They ideally also have ‘before and after’ examples, or ‘yes like this’ ‘not like this’ comparisons. Being able to see the voice in context like this makes it much easier to ‘get’.
(This is because humans learn by mimicry and copying. So the best guidelines have lots of stuff you can just ‘do it like that’.)
(As it happens, generative AI models also learn best from lots of real examples. So if you know you’ll also need ChatGPT or Claude to be one of the writers that’s using your voice, guidelines chock full of detailed examples is the way to go.)
[Voicebox > has great examples of guidelines in]
What is a ‘tone of voice workshop’?
Have you been invited to a tone of voice workshop and aren’t sure what to expect? Or perhaps you’ve been asked to run one, and don’t know what to do!
Let’s break it down. There are essentially two types of ‘tone of voice workshop’. The first is a workshop where everyone is there to give input into creating or defining a voice. The second is a workshop where people are taught how to ‘use’ a voice that already exists.
Running a workshop is a really useful part of the process of defining a voice. It helps get lots of opinions and can be fun and creative. If you’re thinking of running a tone of voice workshop, Voicebox gives you all the structure, exercises and tools you’ll need to run a great workshop that people will love, and will be really useful.
FAQ nerdy shit:
What’s the difference between ‘content’ and ‘tone’?
A brand’s ‘voice’ refers to how it expresses its personality through the words it chooses. So, different brands will say the same thing in different ways. (A formal brand might say ‘let’s commence’. An energetic brand might be more ‘let’s go, babyyyy!’).
It's common to express this as:
There’s content (That’s what you say)
And there’s tone (that’s how you say it)
This is a useful rule of thumb – and it’s true for the things like the example above about how you say ‘let’s start’ (as ‘let’s commence’, or ‘let’s goooo, babyyy!’) .
But it’s an over-simplification, really. In reality, what we say and how we say it are inextricably woven together. It’s rarely just about ‘swapping one expression for another’. It’s also linked to how you see the world, what you notice, the kind of relationship you have with your customers, and lots of other subtle and contextual things.
Is tone of voice about speaking, or writing, or what?
Good question. Given the word ‘voice’, you’d think it would be about speaking, wouldn’t you? And yet, mostly it refers to words that are written down. That could be words on packaging, or websites, or in stores, or on Apps. It might be on social media. It might be words that are written down as scripts or prompts then used by people talking (for example, customer service people).
Should you have a different tones of voice for different places?
This is one of those questions that is endlessly debated by copywriters, marketeers and brand nerds. The simple answer is – mostly, no. Much better to have a strong, coherent, easily-recognisable voice across everything, all the way down to your out of office replies. It’s hard to make a brand really stand out. Don’t confuse people by having different personalities in different contexts.
But! Different channels have different strengths, different conventions, and people have different expectations. TV is different from Tiktok. Direct mail is different from Linkedin. Each format will shape your voice. The main thing is for your voice to come across loud and clear.
First off – are we talking about ‘tone of voice’, ‘brand voice’?
You’ve noticed. Yes, this thing – a brand’s ‘voice’, has a few names. Originally, it was called ‘verbal identity’ (to made a nice pairing with ‘visual identity’). Over time, ‘tone of voice’ became the more usual term, particularly in the UK. ‘Brand voice’ is more usual in the US.
Just to complicate things. Voice and tone?
There’s a bit of nuance – in the US, particularly in tech, people sometimes draw a distinction between ‘voice’ and ‘tone’. ‘Brand voice’ being the overall expression of your ‘personality’, and ‘tone’ being something that might flex depending on the particular situation. So, your overall ‘brand voice’ might be brash and irreverent, but you’d still modulate your tone if, say, you were apologising that your deliver truck accidentally ran over someone’s foot.
For practical reasons, I prefer to stick to either ‘tone of voice’ or ‘brand voice’. Partly because a) of course you should be modulating your tone depending on the situation you’re in or the person you’re talking to! b) when the time comes to, say, be more serious, only the specific context will actually tell you how your voice, in this situation, will modulate best.
Some brands like to say their voice ‘exists on a spectrum’.
Like everything, then.
Here's modulating your voice in a nutshell:
Serious? Saying sorry? Probably tone it down a bit.
Selling? Explaining? Having fun? Turn it up as much as feels right.
But always remember: it depends. So please write responsibly.