Your brand does not need a tone of voicenickparker.co.uk

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Once, only the kooky and the cute were up for it. These days, everyone’s in.

Because the right words make for happier customers and healthier bottom lines.

(And the wrong words find their way round the world on Twitter.)

So, defining your tone of voice is a no-brainer.

Right?

Great brands take great care of their words.

a three pencilsproduction© nick parker

But wait. Your tone of voice doesn’t exist in isolation.

It’s completely tied up with everything else about your brand, your customers, and the world.

And if you fixate on ‘having a tone of voice’, you might miss the real opportunities your words hold.

If you find yourself saying any of the following four things, there’s a risk you might be about to skin a sledgehammer but miss the boat.

As the saying goes.

A highly scientific diagram that illustrates the interconnectedness of all things

Killer brands be here

What you stand for

What you sound like

What you look like

‘We must sound like experts!’ Yet if you listen, all experts sound different.Some are clear. Some are rambling. Some are enthusiastic. Some are bonkers.

And anyway, what all experts really have in common isn’t what they sound like. It’s what they know.Experts really know their stuff.

They make connections others can’t see. They have insights that others don’t have. They say things others can’t say.

Let’s talk about those things first.

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Words are the building, not the decoration.Anon

Words aren’t wallpaper.

‘We need to engage our customers!’There are certainly some language issues that are really unengaging: those cold, formal emails. That badly explained product guide. The legal gibberish. It’s a right turn-off.

But the truth is, most of the time, customers don’t care about being ‘engaged’*. They just want words that are simple, easy, and fuss-free.

Which still takes a good deal of skill, care and attention to get right.

So let’s get that right instead.

Maslow’s hierarchy of customer needs

Just get the basics rightI’m really busy today so if I could just understand this contract without howling with rage, that’d be a massive help. Thanks.

Oh crap. Something’s gone wrong. Please just have a bit of empathy and explain what’s happening simply, ok?

OK, now I’ll read your tweets about biscuits and cats

*there’s data.

‘We want to be storytellers!’Righto.

Do you have lots of good stories to tell?

A: Yes, loads. Great! Let’s crack on.

B: We’ve got a few. OK. Where did they come from?

C: None. We should probably go and find some ...

Once upon a time,there was err... umm...?

‘We just have to be totally surprising and distinctive!’Is everything else about your brand really quite normal? Are you well known for being a dependably unsexy safe pair of hands?

Then don’t muck about with that.

True. It probably won’t win you a fancy schmancy industry award. But your customers will thank you. And remember:

Being brilliantly normal is hardest of all.

Don’t try to be different.Just be good. To be good is different enough.

Paul Rand

nick parker does simple words for smart brands language strategytone of voice (sometimes)stories / content messages / simplification

Read www.nickparker.co.uk Talk 07811 444 789Type nick@nickparker.co.ukTweet @nickparkerSkype nickparkeronskype{ {

This is the asterisk from the front cover. So, obviously, what I’m really saying is that yes, if you’re a brand with something to say, it’s completely essential that you have a tone of voice that captures that spirit, but it’s not the be-all and end-all of how words can help your business, and often you find the right words by not thinking directly about your tone of voice, and, in fact, the whole thing can sometimes be a bit of a distraction. But that would have made for a terrible title.

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