A distinctive tone of voice can evoke a
brand’s personality in language. It can create emotional appeal and differentiate.
So why is the language for so many brands failing to live up to this promise? We
think it’s got something to do with the following pesky misconceptions.
1. “TOV is window dressing.”
Like your logo and your design scheme, your tone of voice is a large part of your brand – not a tacked-on procedure. So, when defining your company’s values, one of the things you might consider is, ‘Could anything here stimulate a distinctive tone of voice?’
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| Everyone's heard rumours their brand has a tone of voice: they just haven't seen it for a while. |
2. “TOV means picking three adjectives and saying write like that.”
Human! Passionate! Inventive! Most tone of voice schemes are based on the brand’s values. But saying, ‘Make your writing more human’, won’t differentiate your brand, even if you do provide lots of examples. Why? Well, interpreting that instruction will inevitably be highly subjective. Instead, the best tone of voice guidelines
