english-for-designers

Voice & Tone

← Homepage

Voice

1. Confident, but not arrogant
2. Future focused
3. Confident
4. Inspiring
5. Accessible
6. Straightforward
7. Calm, but not passive
8. Short and sharp rhythm and pace
9. Plain and simple vocabulary
10. A well-executed joke is never out of the question, but don’t overdo it
11. Swearing should be primarily used to emphasize a joke

Tone

Casual

• Warm
• Friendly
• Enthusiastic
• Engaging
• Respectful
• Playful
• Optimistic

Formal

• Direct
• Clear
• Serious
• Matter of fact
• Rescpectful

Style

1. Include a comma before the conjunction.
2. The exclamation point should be used in moderation.
3. The colon is used to introduce a list of items. Do not, however, use a colon when the listed items are incorporated into the flow of the sentence.
4. Never use a hyphen in place of an en dash or an em dash.
5. The slash should be avoided in formal writing.
6. Include a space between initials.
7. Add an apostrophe and s.
8. Keep an eye out for any 3- and 4-syllable words, and replace 2- and 1-syllable words. See Use simple words and phrases for reference.
9. Aim for an average sentence length of 20-ish words.
10. Use contractions early and often.