finding the right tone tone is a stylistic metaphor referring to the way a communication sounds. We say that the tone of a letter, for example, is upbeat, resigned, cheerful, threatening, forgiving, patronizing, inviting, authoritative, gentle, demanding, courageous, panicky, confident, uncertain, plaintive, reassuring, and so on. Its not exactly the same thing as persona, a literary term meaning literally mask. So, for example, a scientist might choose to write in a way that clearly reveals to her readers that she is a serious, careful, orthodox research scientist. She may refer to scientific methodologies she is using, laboratories she is collaborating with, scientific literature shes read, and the scientific world view she embraces.

She may use scientific jargon, employ lines of reasoning endorsed by other scientists in her field, organize her prose the way others in her field do. Or she could choose to put on an entirely different mask: for example, that of the spiritual defender of gaia, the living earth. But she could still be the patronizing scientist or earth mother, the threatening scientist or earth mother, the reassuring scientist or earth mother. Certainly, the terms tone and persona are related, and one could argue that the gentle earth mother and the angry earth mother are two entirely different masks. But most discussions of style regard the terms as distinct, in the way ive explained and its a helpful distinction, so lets retain it.

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The best way to understand tone, i think, is to regard it as the servant of persona. You establish a tone in your writing that lets your readers know how you the scientist, earth mother, ceo, lawyer, prospective employee, consultant regard them and regard whatever topics youre discussing. As you can imagine, this unit could become unbearably long if i were to try to cover every possible tone. So lets focus on just the broad categories of formal and informal tone, positive tone, and on one technique that will improve your writing in multiple tonal categories: the you attitude. you attitude much of the writing in science, technology, business, industry, and government is subject centered rather than audience centered. Unfortunately, professional writers tend to focus on objects, processes, events, amounts or on themselves and their organizations.

Those things dominate the subject slots of their sentences and seldom make you a direct object. But theres a better way to write, one that establishes a much more helpful, direct, and considerate tone. Its simple, really: just remember that youre writing to people, not writing about stuff or about yourself or your organization. When we unpack that basic rule, we come up with these corollaries: much of the writing in science, technology, business, industry, and government is subject centered rather than audience centered.

Unless youre writing in an informal mode to southerners, you and your serve as both singular and plural. Focus on the readers needs and benefits, or on how something affects the reader not on what you or your product or service or company offers or how you are affected. Dont write about your own emotions unless youre very sure that would be appropriate and welcome. Dont tell the reader how to feel or what to decide feeling and decision is the readers privilege. For example: refer to her previous communications, her companys challenges and goals, her concerns. Name yourself, your work group, your co workers, your company, your organization to give flesh to constructions like safeco will protect you and your family, you will open your eyes in the recovery room to find nurse fred feelwell attending to you.

Heres an example of a we attitude sentence transformed into a you attitude sentence: after years of research, our company has been successful in developing a corrosion resistant metal finishing alternative for counter tops. your company can now take advantage of a new product from acme that will make the finish on your counter tops more resistant to corrosion. Notice that i employed not only the you attitude, but made the sentence more readable by breaking up a long adjective noun string. Remember to employ all your professional stylistic skills! tone is fairly easy to convey vocally for example, people raise their voices when theyre angry and combative. When communicating with other people through business writing, your message is made up of two factors: what you say and how you say it. Even the most basic of messages can be muddled if you deliver them with the wrong tone.

Ask anyone in a long term relationship who hasnt gotten into an argument because their tone of voice was misinterpreted? conveying tone verbally is relatively easy you might yell if youre angry or use dramatic inflection if youre being sarcastic. However, conveying tone in business writing isnt as easy since you dont have the luxury of pitch and timbre to get your point across. Instead, you have to rely on a number of different techniques to make sure your intent comes across clearly and that your tone is dynamic enough to keep your reader entertained. The different types of tone you use in your writing are dependent on several different factorsthe basic building blocks of all communication. audience tailor your tone to appeal to the people youre writing for. For example, youd use more slang and humor in your copy if your brand was trying to specifically target college students.

Something targeting an older, more sophisticated demographic would be straightforward and direct. message think about the actual content of your writing and which types of tone are most appropriate. If you were trying to promote a new product, youd use exciting and energetic language. A post on a social media platform would be casual and conversational, while a press release would be more professional and informative. These factors help to create the basic blueprint for a tone that makes your business writing more effective, but its not something you can calculate like a math problem. Your tone gives your writing some personality, which in turn gives your brand a personality.

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