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February 4, 2014 Transcript of #CommsChat on language and tone of voice

Last week’s #CommsChat was a fascinating discussion of tone of voice, use of language and the ability to communicate using a company’s personality to its own benefit. We’ve selected a handful of interesting tweets. Also take a look at the full hour below, which is chock-full of insight.

  • @TheWriter  Because it’s what people relate to. It’s hard to feel an affinity to a logo, but words make a connection – good or bad.
  • @TheWriter  Start by thinking about who you are. Tone of voice isn’t a one-size-fits-all kind of thing
  • @adamrubins  tone of voice is everything. It’s your individuality, your character and represents your brand values
  • @AllthingsIC  Tone of voice increasingly being inc in branding guidelines for orgs. Reflects importance of int and ext alignment in all aspects
  • @NafisaNathani  Tone of voice=brand personality. Essentially people “buy into” people so humanising brand helps create authenticity&trust
  • @Rob_McTaggart  London Fire aims to hit young professionals & put our tongue in our cheek to get them on board & think out fire #sexsells
  • @TheWriter  Stay true to your brand. Who are you? Who are your audience? What’s your heritage? And stay consistent.
  • @innocentdrinks: you really don’t want to bank with us. We lost our chequebook down a sofa in 2005.

 

 

  1.  14h

    hi, yes just past 8am. On train, balancing bags and often commuters while tweeting

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  2.  
     14h

    Hah! Fantastic: RT : you really don’t want to bank with us. We lost our chequebook down a sofa in 2005.

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  3.  
     14h

    Phew, that was intense.

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  4.  
     14h

    Agree wiv . Cold + distant is a oxymoron.

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  5.  
     14h

    Hey Kim, must be morning over on your side of the world, good to see you in . Hope you have a good day

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  6.  
     14h

    You’re only as good as your last tweet –

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  7.  
     14h

    Excellent tonight. Thanks for making me challenge my own thinking people.

     from Nottingham, Nottingham

  8.  
     14h

    thanks and night all, I’ll think of you as I start my full day’s work 🙂

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  9.  
     14h

    Joking aside, I find them too informal from a council. Maybe some brands could get away with them

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  10.  
     14h

    Thanks everyone. Get in touch with any more questions.

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  11.  
     14h

    Thanks all for a good !

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  12.  
     14h

    don’t talk down to your audience. Find a balance between getting your point across & engaging those you target

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  13.  
     14h

    Thanks Bee. Will look out for transcript tomorrow to read what I missed at start. Thanks

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  14.  
     14h

    So feel free to continue chatting, but I’ll be signing off for the evening. G’night all!

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  15.  
     14h

    Don’t agree tone of voice should be platform specific.Need have unified tone across all channels, type of content posted changes

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  16.  
     14h

    A6) That dealing with tone of voice means dealing with people, both int & ext. Make smart choices to protect your reputation

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  17.  
     14h

    We’re going to post the transcript as usual in the AM and this will be a great one to refer back to when dealing w/your own tone

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  18.  
     14h

    ensure they represent your brand values, be confident, engage with your audience and think before you write

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  19.  
     14h

    Well fantastic tonight, guys. Please join me in thanking Bee from for her insights.

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  20.  
     14h

    Stay true to your brand. Who are you? Who are your audience? What’s your heritage? And stay consistent.

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  21.  
     14h

    Amen 🙂 I like them to diffuse situations and for winning people round – draw the line using them outside mentions

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  22.  
     14h

    totally agree. Some brands can be much more informal than others

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  23.  
     14h

    It should be built out from an orgs. true values or it will appear false & gaps will open up that trust falls through

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  24.  
     14h

    fine in moderation on social media but nowhere else – useful to imply tone with limited characters

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  25.  
     14h

    A regular debate in our HQ. But we generally say try to get it across in tone so you don’t need 🙂

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  26.  
     14h

    absolutely! In my opinion, it is as, if not more, important than the key messages in a social media strategy

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  27.  
     14h

    What’s the most important thing to remember when dealing with tone of voice?

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  28.  
     14h

    Three minutes left of . I’m gonna ask Bee for one final thought on tone…

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  29.  
     14h

    often more appropriate than kisses…Xx

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  30.  
     14h

    And help that brand and culture feel authentic – when the tone goes into everything.

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  31.  
     14h

    What’s funny in some markets doesn’t land well in others

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  32.  
     14h

    why not use them 🙂 in the right place.

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  33.  
     14h

    Definitely. A mixture of who you are and who your audience is.

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  34.  
     14h

    MT : single tone of voice tricky for orgs like councils who have to do regulatory stuff

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  35.  
     14h

    Fascinating & very timely debate on brand tone of voice tonight . Will read timeline at work. . Vital area to get right.

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  36.  
     14h

    Five minutes to go – where does everyone stand on smileys? 🙂

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  37.  
     14h

    Creating familiar tone of voice ie brand personality can also help customers &employees feel part of the brand&company culture

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  38.  
     14h

    The secret is to find the Voice of the Brand. It’s usually a partner tone; not stilted business speak.

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  39.  14h

    Hi Bridget, excellent stuff, would love to know more. You’re very welcome to guest blog if you can/fancy.

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  40.  
     14h

    exactly. Not everyone has same humour or thought process

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  41.  
     14h

    A great tone gets into every corner of the business – ts&cs, call centres and advertising.

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  42.  
     14h

    Ideally, ppl suited to values should be recruited so voice shouldn’t have to be ‘forced’

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  43.  
     14h

    A5) Constantly review – on normal day, after unique situation, with wider biz. Tone of voice reflects more than the comms team

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  44.  
     14h

    we’re looking to put our people – firefighters & staff – at the heart of our new brand guide. They are the brand

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  45.  
     14h

    true, pleased with my team for the dead parrot tweet last week on opportunity not to be missed

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  46.  
     14h

    There’s also qualitative data – employee and customer surveys etc. We recommend spot checks too.

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  47.  
     14h

    . So efficiency matters. What about customer satisfaction?

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  48.  
     14h

    Just 7 more minutes to about tone of voice, language and company culture

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  49.  
     14h

    yes, not just written, include tone of voice conversation tips for staff – managing the handshake moment

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  50.  
     14h

    One of our clients managed to save thousands by cutting down call times. Another could reply to more letters in a day.

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  51.  
     14h

    ahh, helps when you head the Corp Comms & Customer Service-type team like me. Consistency hopefully

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  52.  
     14h

    The first. If it’s a success or not?

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  53.  
     14h

    get all stakeholders in a room and have an open discussion. From CRM to ad team, everyone has a view on tone of voice

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  54.  
     14h

    Tricky one because characters count on Twitter, so ‘sorry’ may be ok (situation dependent)

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  55.  
     14h

    evaluate whether a tone of voice programme’s been a success, or whether one’s needed?

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  56.  
     14h

    I think the first one

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  57.  
     14h

    depends how you choose to set yourself up

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  58.  
     14h

    food 4 thought folks. you at do it brilliantly too – often envious

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  59.  
     14h

    Coz own personalities can emerge. Brands say if diff pple tweet.

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  60.  
     14h

    if its digital its about engagement vs likes. But it all comes back to reputation and sales

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  61.  
     14h

    Great suggestion. It’s about empathy. "Apologies for any inconvenience caused" isn’t the same as sorry.

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  62.  14h

    London Fire aims to hit young professionals & put our tongue in our cheek to get them on board & think out fire

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  63.  
     14h

    ha I use that very image in my course to demonstrate the importance of checking

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  64.  
     14h

    agreed LFB try things

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  65.  
     14h

    Getting last topic in just under the wire, priceless: What steps should a company take to evaluate its tone of voice?

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  66.  
     14h

    but That’s where there’s a danger ‘fake’ personality

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  67.  
     14h

    same tone or similar

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  68.  
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    I guess that you know the tone that a brand will have when you allow them to email you.

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  69.  
     14h

    Tone of voice increasingly being inc in branding guidelines for orgs. Reflects importance of int and ext alignment in all aspects

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  70.  
     14h

    MT : tone of voice is essentially customer service. Amuses me when cos. have great digital tone but awful over phone

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  71.  
     14h

    play the "In their shoes" comms game. What would your reaction be as your audience? Keep, chat, delete, complain?

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  72.  
     14h

    Re: apostrophes – so this would be bad… 🙂

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  73.  
     14h

    It’s a tricky one. If they were saying sorry for, say, the Twitter going down, would the reaction have been as bad?

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  74.  
     14h

    Can multiple people be trained respond in the same tone? Yes 1/2

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  75.  
     14h

    ALL: Importance of details and extent of comms through biz. MT : Does their cookies policy reflect their packaging?

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  76.  
     14h

    no, but the apostrophes would have to be correct 🙂

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  77.  
     14h

    ditto re too much individual personality in what is a serious customer message

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  78.  
     14h

    obviously can work the other way too – winning an audience over even when they dislike the message

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  79.  
     14h

    suppose it depends what kind of bad news

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  80.  
     14h

    Great summary –> RT : the right tone should reflect the organisation and be tailored to the channel

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  81.  
     14h

    True, but sometimes they forget about the nooks and crannies. Does their cookies policy reflect their packaging?

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  82.  
     14h

    DNA article was written by the excellent

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  83.  
     14h

    Read this –> MT : A4) I wrote about TfL last wk as they Tweeted "soz" post-disruption.

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  84.  
     14h

    very true

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  85.  
     14h

    the right tone should reflect the organisation and be tailored to the channel

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  86.  14h

    why not? It is a fine line for public bodies

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  87.  
     14h

    A4) I wrote about TfL last wk as they Tweeted "soz" post-disruption. Read views from Comms pros re: slang:

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  88.  
     14h

    Exactly. If you’re cold & distant when delivering bad news, your customers will think you don’t care.

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  89.  
     14h

    . Consumer-facing brands tend to excel at this. Maybe bc tone is extension of ?

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  90.  
     14h

    tone can make or break comms – a poor choice can immediately alienate an audience

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  91.  
     14h

    Tone of voice=brand personality. Essentially people "buy into" people so humanising brand helps create authenticity&trust

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  92.  
     14h

    Only well crafted, quality Tweets will project the right tone

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  93.  
     14h

    All brands have to deliver bad news sometimes. But the way you deliver it can make a huge difference. As showed.

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  94.  
     14h

    A4) Your reputation can be dented through poor choice. Take calculated risks and choose wisely

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  95.  
     14h

    I love it. Bravo – probably not an appropriate tone for us at though!

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  96.  
     14h

    Hi Amanda, a bit actually! All about tone, language and personality in comms. Not too late to join though!

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  97.  
     14h

    This is a very good point. It mirrors the usage of each platform.

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  98.  
     14h

    Evening have I missed much?

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  99.  
     14h

    a poorly chosen & executed tone can be an immediate turn-off

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  100.  
     14h

    I’ve featured on my blog re: living their values as they are their "DNA"

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  101.  
     14h

    It depends on how familiar, and who from. Would you mind a clothe’s shop emailing you with "Hello?"

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  102.  
     14h

    Words to live by in comms RT : Consider your audience

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  103.  
     14h

    T4: What impact does a suitable tone have on comms (internal, consumer, IR, etc)? A poorly chosen one?

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  104.  
     14h

    tone of voice should be platform specific too. Twitter tone of voice different to Facebook etc. Consider your audience

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  105.  
     14h

    True! I know a brand whose tone is totally outrageous. Never seen anything like it. Spanish tech shop

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  106.  
     14h

    I think as with anything if you see something that works, it’s easier to copy than start from scratch

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  107.  
     14h

    Hi, tips would be keep it real. Literally. Ensure values are tangible, accessible & not just words on wall

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  108.  
     14h

    Totally agree >> RT : One favourites re tone, I quite enjoy which can be fantastically fantastical.

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  109.  
     14h

    Gonna try and squeeze the next couple topics in! Carry on with 1-3 if you want, though

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  110.  
     14h

    When you do something that well, of course a lot of people copy it.

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  111.  
     14h

    made a lot of people realise they could wield words to build their brand. …

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  112.  
     14h

    That’s one will be able to help with too.

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  113.  
     14h

    I think it’s appropriateness of situation rather than age; poor choice of language jars, whatever age.

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  114.  
     14h

    I’m sorry non-comms geek followers: is very good tonight. I’ll be massively into it for the next 30 mins – normal service after

     from Nottingham, Nottingham

  115.  
     14h

    One favourites re tone, I quite enjoy which can be fantastically fantastical.

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  116.  
     14h

    Any other tips for getting your people to live your brand & values?

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  117.  
     14h

    Our favourite is ‘s Twitter response to their network going down.

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  118.  
     14h

    Don’t forget the tag!

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