We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives. Maya Angelou, American writer and poet
If you are feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment, it may be showing in your communication.
Remember, language is a core element of an organisation’s culture. It’s important to recognise this and for your brand to adopt a suitable tone of voice.
If readers understand and identify with your tone, your communication has worked, and the results will come for your brand or organisation.
Any communication going out on behalf of your company should express the personality and values of the writer and the organisation. It should be a recognisable style of language that engages and maintains the audience’s attention.
Before you consider writing anything, have a think about the best channel for your communication. In our email-connected world we often overlook making a simple phone call. It’s often the best option. Depending on the recipient, text messages are often appreciated as well.
But often there is no avoiding using email, which bring us to tone and concision. A long email is death. The wrong tone can also be fatal.
Communicate For Impact once audited an international hotel chain’s letters to its guests. They read like an internal memo. The tone reflected someone either too busy to write or who just didn’t care. Certainly, the author had not put themselves in the shoes of guests.
Tone differs depending on the audience. It differs between colleagues and customers.
You are at home, but you are also at work, and this could well be the new normal.
Newcastle Herald editor Heath Harrison had this to say in open letter on the front page of the March 21 edition.
Today's paper is the 39,559th edition of the Newcastle Herald.
For the first 39,553 of those editions, the news that you need has come via our vibrant and noisy newsrooms in Newcastle East and more recently in Honeysuckle. Even on the night of the earthquake, a packed newsroom rallied to produce the next day's special edition.
But this week, a week like none of us have ever seen, that newsroom has been empty.
This week our newsroom has been in Adamstown. In Stockton. In Georgetown. In Charlestown and Cooks Hill. In Mayfield, Maitland and Maryville. In Wallsend, Windella, Waratah and Wangi. In East Maitland, New Lambton, Adamstown Heights. In Redhead. In Valentine. In Hamilton. In Lambton. On the Central Coast. And in Orange.
Our advertising teams, classifieds, finance and administration staff have also been working from home.
As many of you now know, working remotely has its challenges – but we're determined to keep you informed as the coronavirus pandemic story develops.
So just be mindful of writing while wearing shorts or trackie dacks as you look at out your garden.
Work-from-home doesn’t mean tone from home. Words matter. Make them count.
As you hit the keyboard, think of the why, what and how.
Why are you writing this piece of correspondence? That should be upfront. Think about what you want to achieve, especially what you want the reader to do. And think about how best to convey this in the most concise way. Less is more.
Readers today are overloaded with words. Adopting the right tone of voice ensures the appropriate response. A consistent tone of voice makes it easier for the reader to digest and therefore act on your writing. Familiarity breeds trust.
As Maya Angelou also said:
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
