1

Creating Memorable Voice and Tone

Why Voice and Tone Matter

As content strategists, much of our time is spent addressing practical tasks and goals: Structuring content for

easy use. Guiding customers to an informed purchase. Explaining a company’s unique mission. And simply

directly our audience from point A to point B in a given online journey. Successfully fulfilling such journeys is

a critical goal, yet the quality of that experience clearly matters, too.

In his humorous 1889 travel guide, Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K. Jerome described the downfalls of cheese

as a travel companion—particularly, an overly ripe one on a crowded train:

One crusty old gentleman objected, but I got in, notwithstanding; and putting my cheese upon the rack, squeezed d own with a

pleasant smile, and said it was a warm day.

A few moments passed, and then the old gentleman began to fidget.

“Very close in here,” he said.

“Quite oppressive,” said the man next to him.

And then they both began sniffing, and, at the third sniff, they caught it right in the chest, and rose up without another word

and went out. And then a stout lady got up and said it was disgraceful that a respectable married woman should be harried

about in this way, and gathered up a bag and eight parcels and went. The remaining four passengers sat on for a while, until a

solemn-looking man in the corner, who, from his dress and general appearance, seemed to belong to the undertaker class,

said it put him in the mind of dead baby; and the other three passengers tried to get out of the door at the same time, and hurt

themselves.

Creating a memorable, agreeable journey is an equally vital component of the overall digital experience. Style,

tone, and voice—which I summarily refer to as Voice—all matter. Think of Voice as the travel companion that

will make a user’s journey either memorable and pleasurable…or an uncomfortable episode that sends users

running towards an exit.

Defining the Voice

For better or worse, unlike Mr. Jerome, you have neither the luxury nor the responsibility of defining Voice ex

nihilo. Rather, assuming your client’s brand identity is in place, and insight into their audience is equally

squared away, the road to defining Voice has been paved with clear guideposts:

Brand attributes: what makes your client who they are; the essential qualities that tie back to brand

promises and/or company goals. These should be evident across your messaging, which will and

reinforce credibility.

2

Audience needs and desires: What motivates as well as delights the users who consume your digital

content. Your wording should consistently reflect these needs and interests, reassuring users that they

are in the right place.

Brand and Audience are the two core pillars to work from, and the CSA Voice and Tone Template can guide

you towards articulating these elements in greater detail. For example, you should consider how complex your

language should be, and whether messages are delivered in a more personal versus impersonal tone. There is

certainly wiggle room for other considerations beyond those laid out in the template; let the unique nature of

your client and project dictate the amount and type of scrutiny you apply in defining the Voice.

Hopefully you are not working in isolation, but in concert with other experiential elements. The voice should be

synchronous with the overall UX vision, including the visual design. Still having difficulty getting the proper

nuance? Try plotting potential attributes along a spectrum—whichever type works for you. You may want to

extend participation to the broader UX team to gain greater dimension. Doing so can help you arrive at the

precise quality and direction for your client.

Try plotting potential Voice attributes along a spectrum to better arrive at just the right quality

Testing the Voice Here’s a wholly unscientific formula I use for arriving at and testing any given Voice:

3

(Brand) + (Audience) seen through the lens of (Competitive landscape) best practice for the medium

Again, the client’s Brand and Audience are the essential underpinnings to your Voice. These should be assessed

through the lens of the competitive landscape, and then brought to the highest level of excellence for the digital

medium (e.g., website, mobile app, etc.). This generally means that messages are crafted and presented in a way

that is concise, targeted, scan-able and intuitive for the intended audience.

If your client’s brand identity is well defined, it should perform well in the competitive landscape. Even so, test

the Voice you develop against other players in the space to ensure that it stands apart to the proper degree.

Likewise, apply the Voice to anticipated content types (e.g., headlines, instructional passages, product

descriptions, CTAs, etc.) to understand how it may need to be better defined or altered to suit various situations

and interactions. Ideally you will have created just the right type of travel companion for the journey in

question.