Voice And Tone Calibration

Voice & Tone Calibration

The Spectrum

Context        Formality    Warmth     Confidence
─────────────────────────────────────────────────
Marketing      Medium       High       High
Onboarding     Low          High       Medium
In-product     Low          Medium     Medium
Error states   Medium       High       Low (humble)
Legal/billing  High         Low        High
Documentation  Medium       Low        High
Celebration    Low          High       High

Adjusting Tone

More Warm

• Use 'you' and 'your' frequently
• Contractions ('you're' not 'you are')
• Shorter sentences
• Acknowledge the user's effort

More Formal

• Complete sentences, no fragments
• Fewer contractions
• Title case headings
• No slang or colloquialisms

More Confident

• Declarative statements ('This does X' not 'This can help with X')
• Specific claims with numbers
• Active voice
• Short paragraphs

Testing Tone

Read your copy in these voices:

• Would a friend say this? (too casual?)
• Would a lawyer say this? (too formal?)
• Would you roll your eyes hearing this? (too much?) The right tone lands between extremes.