Clear messaging not only helps audiences understand what you mean, it signals who you are. Along with what you say, how you say it, or tone of voice, helps establish a public perception. Tone can be critical during a PR crisis.
Schwa, a U.K.-based language and behavioral science agency, has The Tone Test, a tool that analyzes tone of voice via four categories:
- The basics: whether a company has a tone of voice, rather than a ‘woolly’ idea of one.
- Getting others involved from the start: the more people with input into a tone of voice, the better it’ll stick.
- Creating an internal program: run trainings, hold events, share examples of what a good tone looks like. Consistent reminders will help tone of voice stick.
- Measuring it: whether that’s fewer complaints or more happy customers, you need to prove it works.
After users answer questions related to the above, The Tone Test provides a diagnosis: 50+ percent is good, 70 percent or more is considered excellent. Companies below 50 percent receive advice and resources for improvement.
“The words we hear from a person or organization fundamentally change the way we think and feel about them,” says Meg Roberts, Schwa’s creative director.
She mentions U.K. chef Heston Blumenthal. “When one of his restaurants launched a dish called ‘crab ice cream,’ hardly any customers picked it from the menu. When he relabeled it ‘frozen crab bisque,’ [it was] a sell-out.”
Once a brand defines its personality, it can do more to thread its tone throughout the company.
“Once you know you need to define [tone of voice] on paper, then [you] train your teams to write that way, too,” she says. “That way, every word customers see from you will feel like it’s coming from the same place—whether they’re tapping through your app, watching one of your ads or reading a letter from you.”
Roberts says a well-defined tone of voice can contribute to a stronger team culture and reputation, more efficient processes and greater brand recognition.
“Your brand starts to stand out because people love the way it speaks,” she says.
Crisis and Tone of Voice
Teams with a strong tone of voice will “automatically use it in times of crisis,” Roberts says. That’s why it’s important for organizations to define their tone of voice before a crisis hits.
And changes to tone of voice are not necessary, she adds. “People often think that you have to put on a ‘serious voice’ and start writing in a really formal way” during a crisis. This makes a brand feel “fractured and inconsistent,” she claims.
Of course, crisis communication includes much more than proper tone of voice. “Beyond your brand personality, even basic writing skills–such as starting with your main point–can have a massive impact” on how employees and other stakeholders receive your crisis communication, she says.
In Crisis, Less is More
And while including a plethora of voices is best when creating tone of voice, as you will see below, Roberts advocates crisis communication works best when fewer writers are involved.
“Nothing ruins crisis communication like writing by committee,” she says. “If you do need to get buy-in from lots of people, assign one person, ideally a writer, the job of editor.”
That person’s job is “compiling different opinions and bringing them together in a way that makes sense...as a consistent whole.”
Inclusion=Loyalty
As more people are involved with creating a company’s tone of voice, the more widely it will be accepted around the organization.
It’s important to include input from every corner of a business. When tone of voice fails inside an organization, it will have difficulty spreading outside.
That’s based on something called the Ikea Effect. As with Ikea furniture, staff are reluctant to deviate from an agreed tone of voice because they ‘assembled’ it themselves. “We value things more if we’ve had a hand in creating them,” Roberts says.
Tone of Voice and PR
In Nov. 2020, Schwa surveyed 190 global marketing, communication and brand directors to gauge shifts in tone since COVID-19.
More than four in 10 believe brands became more “soft and fluffy” during the pandemic; almost a third believe organizations are creating meaningless updates.
“It feels like we’re seeing variations of the same message (‘we’re here for you’, ‘now more than ever’, ‘unprecedented times’) again and again and again,” Roberts says. “It’s time to put some of the spark back into how brands speak.”
Roberts says the most memorable brands are creative with language.
Some people argue that all tones of voice fit into one of Jung’s 12 archetypes. “I don’t buy it: I think the most interesting brands fall into new categories and deliberately don’t sound like other people.”
Roberts uses communication platform Slack, as an example.
“It’s cute and a little silly, using words like ‘jibber-jabber’ and ‘flim-flam,’” she says. “It’s just one of the things that makes the brand stand out; it’s so different to other B2B tech or communication companies.”
Nicole Schuman is Senior Editor at Crisis Insider and PRNEWS