Tone of voice / Team tone of voice

Team tone of voice

This could be the right approach for you if:

  • You want to apply your tone of voice externally – in marketing materials, website, social media etc… and to some extent, internally, in job ads, internal comms and onboarding information
  • Your tone of voice will only ever be used by a small team of internal writers, and they are the only ones who will be creating the communications mentioned in point one
  • However, these communications may need to be signed off by a wider group

What we do

When we’re creating a tone of voice for a team to own and use, we usually start by auditing your existing communications – and interviewing stakeholders across your organisation. This is because getting their input and buy-in is essential – especially if they will later be commenting on, and signing off, the work that your core communications team creates. We also immerse ourselves in your organisation’s brand, its customers and business objectives.

Based on what we learn, we’ll make recommendations for a new tone of voice – and when you’re happy with them, we create easy-to-follow guidelines. These guidelines explain what tone of voice is – and why this particular tone of voice is right for your organisation’s brand, its audiences and its business goals. They show how the tone works in different circumstances – and how to adopt and adapt it. We also include examples from across your organisation.

Training is critical for a team tone of voice – even if your team is made up of skilled and experienced writers. We create a training workshop for your team – and in a day or half-day, we take everyone through the reasons for the tone of voice, how to use it and how to adapt it for different circumstances. Our workshops are safe spaces where everyone can have a go and ask all the questions they need.

We may also suggest creating a suite of documents to get the ball rolling.

What you get

  • A longer set of guidelines – up to around 30 pages, including examples from across your organisation
  • A library of live examples to get the ball rolling
  • A bespoke training session for your team
  • Follow-up and support

Circumstances this approach is useful in

  • You have a small team of people who are responsible for creating all communications
  • You have a wider team that inputs into these communications and signs them off
  • You may need to defend your tone of voice to people involved in sign-off

Circumstances this approach isn’t suitable for

  • If you want more than a tight group of people in your organisation to be able to use the tone of voice

Not sure if this approach is suitable for you? Give us a call and we can help you decide what you need.

Case studies

Helping a fintech organisation speak with one voice

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Helping a specialist research company to stand out

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Repositioning an iconic British charity

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By treating language as a vehicle to reposition our brand – and to help achieve organisational change – we have succeeded in helping our customers to understand some of the most important decisions they will ever have to make. Wordtree has been fundamental in helping us to achieve this change.

Nicola Thomson Head of Brand, Standard Life

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