Communication Style
Our tone of voice is the way in which we write and speak, what we say and how we say it. Like a person, what we say is dictated by our principles, experiences and aspirations, how we say it is informed by our personality.
- Casual and conversational
- Friendly respectful
- Enthusiastic but also matter-of-fact
- Gender-neutral and bias-free (see also our Bias-free Communication Guidelines)
- Smart
- Trustworthy
- Short, but full of key words
Examples:
| Do | Don’t |
|---|---|
| Hi Alex! | Dear Very Precious Client… |
| Get your Trust ID in less than 10 minutes | Get your Trust ID very fast! |
| Our services give you superpowers! | Become a hero using our services |
| To | In order to |
| So | Therefore |
| Now | At this point in time |
| If | In the event of |
| We help customers | We provide help to customers |
| We analysed | We conducted an analysis of |
| We decided to | We made a decision to |
References
- Every design system should have voice & tone defined
- Writing for the Web (U.S. Gov)
- Writing for the Web (Seattle University)
- What is the difference between voice and tone?
- 7 Best Examples of Brand Tone of Voice
- How To Tell Your Brand Story
- 5 tone of voice examples and tips to improve your messaging
- The best tone of voice examples we’ve found (so far)
- The international guide to gender-inclusive writing