TONE OF VOICE HOW WE SOUND

Although we speak to a vast range of audiences, our tone of voice should always remain constant. It is built on the following six principles or ‘pillars’. We ask that you write in a way, which:

1. Is aspirational and confident but never arrogant

2. Appeals to emotion as well as rationality – highlighting benefits and the ‘intangible’

3. Is warm, authentic, truthful and transparent

4. Is bold but never pompous or over-the-top

5. Speaks in the voice of an adult talking to adults

6. Is personal, not corporate – people here are known by name not number

Your voice will always be as per the six ‘pillars’, but tone is meant to be dialled up or down depending on the circumstances. Adopting tonal variation can empower us to be more human, friendly and conversational when appropriate, and more formal when necessary, all whilst conveying professionalism and authenticity.

When thinking about tone, there are three considerations:

Audience

Who are you talking to/with? What will tone impart on this conversation?

Channel

How are you communicating? Are you writing a blog? Inviting someone to a lecture? Or writing a funding application?

Call to action

How do you want people to react? What do you want them to do?

As well as dialling up and down the potency of these six ‘pillars’, you also have the flexibility to write from different perspectives. What do we mean by this? Peer to peer communications is incredibly powerful and should be used wherever possible. Prospective students, for example, want to know what our current students think or what they have gone on to achieve. However, there is a time when they also want to hear from a course leader and other moments when the voice of the University of Winchester needs to be used.