english-for-designers

Voice & Tone

An overview

Voice

When it comes to my voice, the main thing I try to do is make myself approachable. People tend to open up more when they have the feeling of being welcomed, so that´s exactly what I try to do. In real life it´s easy. In writing? Not so much. But I still try to sound friendliest as possible. And even though I sometimes use “big words”, it´s not to sound smarter, it´s usually because I forgot the simple word for that :) But what I really don´t like is blabbering. I want to know what is going on so I can see the whole picture. That´s why I myself try to say the most important things first to get my point across and then the other information.

So what are my basic rules to my voice?

  1. Straigh to the point - it is going to be easier for everyone to know what we´re getting into. Details can be discussed later.
  2. Don´t take yourself too seriously - if it´s not life threatening situation, you´ll be okay. Regardles of the audience, try to joke around!
  3. Being fair - Everyone´s life is different, be compassionate and try to see different points of views.
  4. We´re equal - No matter who you are speaking to, they are “only” human too. Golden rule: “Treat others how you want to be treated”.

Tone

I enjoy communicating with people. With that comes the responsibility of choosing the way I talk and write. Sometimes it can be hard for me in a professional environment, as I tend to make things personal and talk with people as if we were old friends. But I try and set my tone according to the situation. Additionally, I am relatively fast on swapping the desired outcome of expressions.

Also, I tend to swear a lot. For me it´s a way to exagerrate my words, but I really don´t like it. It somehow became a major part of my tone, but I´m trying to tone it down. (See what I did there? Hehe)

Style

I wouldn´t say that I have some major guide to the way I write, but here are some rules that I usally try to follow.

  1. Divide into paragraphs - it´s way easier to read and to find information
  2. Use titles
  3. Every sentence has to end. Use punctuacion!
  4. Use upper case at the beginning of sentences
  5. Don´t use UPPERCASE when it´s not needed (who likes being yelled at?!)
  6. Use different lengts of sentences (It can get boring to read long texts with all the sentences being stylistally the same. Use short sentences! And sometimes, when it´s needed, you can use long sentences to catch the readers eye and to make him wait for what you have to say and to really make him work for your thoughts! Make the text interesting.)
  7. Don´t overuse highlighting (italic, bold, underline, color, etc.) - it can get messy when you look at everything but normal text.