Define a tone of voice staff can actually use

What this means for your practice

Translate broad principles into examples of real communications. Show how the organisation explains uncertainty, gives instructions and responds when something goes wrong.

A practical example

Illustrative before: “Your submission is incomplete. Resend the attachment.” A clearer version could be: “We received your form, but the attachment did not arrive. Please send it using [approved upload route]. If that is difficult, contact [team and contact route] so we can explain the next step.” Replace the brackets with real approved details and use this wording only if it describes what happened. It explains the missing item without blaming the reader or implying that an appointment has been accepted.

Include examples of what to avoid and explain why. For instance, a cheery confirmation that promises an appointment before it is booked creates a meaning problem, not merely a tone problem. Staff need guidance that preserves useful facts while improving warmth and readability.

Make the design useful in everyday work

Choose a few real communication situations to make the voice guide useful: an introduction, a practical instruction and a message about something that went wrong. Show the wording the organisation prefers and explain why it fits the situation. Broad adjectives such as warm or professional need examples before two writers can apply them consistently. Include how the practice explains uncertainty without sounding evasive and how it gives a clear next step without pressure. Ask staff to adapt a fictional message using the guide alone. Their questions reveal where an additional example would help more than another page of abstract principles.

How to check the result

Review inconsistencies that the examples fail to resolve.