The problem with most tone of voice guides isn’t that they’re wrong — it’s that they’re too abstract to be useful. “Be human”, “be clear”, “be confident” are aspirations, not instructions. A guide that actually changes how people write needs to show what good looks like in practice.
Make it specific
Use before-and-after examples throughout. “Instead of: ‘We are committed to delivering outstanding value for all our stakeholders’, write: ‘We work hard to be worth the investment’” is immediately useful. Abstract principles without examples leave too much room for interpretation.
Cover what people actually write
A tone of voice guide should cover the things people actually produce: emails, reports, social media posts, website copy, presentations. If your guide doesn’t address the formats your teams write in most often, it won’t get used.
Include the “don’ts”
Tell people what to avoid, not just what to do. A list of words or phrases the organisation should stop using — corporate jargon, sector clichés, over-formal constructions — is often more useful than a list of principles. People find it easier to stop doing something specific than to start doing something vague.
Keep it short
A tone of voice guide that people can read in 20 minutes and refer back to in 2 is more valuable than a comprehensive document nobody opens. Aim for 8–12 pages maximum. If you have more to say, put the essentials in the main guide and detail in an appendix.
The tone of voice template below gives you a structure for building a practical, example-led guide that covers principles, vocabulary, and format-specific guidance.