voice and tone: creating content for humans (kate kiefer lee)
DESCRIPTION
A brand’s voice stays the same from day to day, but its tone has to change all the time, depending on both the situation and the reader’s feelings. This talk focuses on articulating your brand’s personality and writing for emotional humans. I use MailChimp as a case study to explain how we created VoiceandTone.com, an interactive voice and tone guide, and how it improved the company’s content and processes across departments. I also share a few of my favorite voice and tone guides, as well as some examples of empathetic (and not so empathetic) content in action.TRANSCRIPT
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Voice and ToneCreating content for humans
@katekiefer
voiceandtone.com mailchimp.com
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Find your voiceSpeak onto the page
Watch your toneKnow when to keep a straight face
Be honest
Find your voiceSpeak onto the page
Watch your toneKnow when to keep a straight face
Be honest
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Ask questionsWhat does your company do?Why did you start your company?Why do people visit your website?Who are your customers?What other companies do you admire?
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If your brand were a person, how would you describe them?
Show me a few examples of content that suits your brand.
What other companies do you admire?
How do you want people to feel when they visit your website?
Ask questionsIf your brand were a person, how would you describe him or her?Show me a few examples of content that suits your brand.How do you want people to feel when they visit your website?
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MailChimp is
fun but not childish.clever but not silly.powerful but not complicated.smart but not stodgy.cool but not alienating.informal but not sloppy.helpful but not overbearing.expert but not bossy.
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Design persona (Aarron Walter)
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Voice guidelines
company's missioncontent typesspeci!c content examplesbrand traitspersonality explanationreader/customer typesvisual guidelines
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Yaaaawn.
DATES
Spell out the day and abbreviate the month
DOLLARS AND CENTS
Use a dollar sign. Don’t include cents on round dollars, and spell out “cents.”
$35
$35.50
$35 million
35 cents
ELLIPSES
Use ellipses (...) to show that you’re omitting words or trailing off before the end of a thought. Don’t use an ellipsis for emphasis or drama.
AMPERSANDS
Don’t use them. Type the word “and.”
CAPITALIZATION
Use common sense. When in doubt, don’t capitalize.
ese words shouldn’t be capitalized: website, internet, online, email.
COLONS
Use a colon if you’re telling people what comes next in the #rst part of the sentence.
You can choose from three support options: online chat, email support or MailChimp’s Knowledge Base.
COMMAS
Use the serial/Oxford comma.
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"It is insight into human nature that is key to the communicator's skill. For whereas the writer is concerned with what he puts into his writings, the communicator is concerned with what the reader gets out of it. He therefore becomes a student of how people read or listen."
William Bernbach
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Find your voiceSpeak onto the page
Watch your toneKnow when to keep a straight face
Be honest
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"A good teacher I know, Jennifer Auger, has a simple but effective technique for the writing classroom. When her students have blah voiceless writing, she makes them speak the following words to her before reading their text: 'Listen to me, I have something to tell you.'"
Peter ElbowVernacular Eloquence: What Speech Can Bring to Writing
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Jerrold, a Nerdbot
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Find your voiceSpeak onto the page
Watch your toneKnow when to keep a straight face
Be honest
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Style guide: content types
e app
e application is MailChimp’s heart. Its language helps people along as they create, send and track email campaigns. People using the app already know and love MailChimp, so we can have a little fun with the language–though our priority is helping them get their work done quickly.
Why we do it: Duh.
Microcopy
Microcopy is that small but oh-so-important instructional copy that you usually see in forms and feedback messages. It might remind a user that her password has to contain a number or explain that email communication will only be used regarding a speci#c order. We also call it “help text,” and you see it both in the app and on the public site. It’s short and to-the-point.
Why we do it: To help users complete tasks.
MailChimp newsletter
MailChimp’s email newsletter is a company update written by our CEO, Ben. It’s full of photos, stories, experiments, links and announcements for customers who want to know more about MailChimp. It’s casual and entertaining.
Why we do it: To give customers more MailChimp news and provide an occasional behind-the-scenes look at how the company works. We are an email service, after all.
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Mascot’s jokes: an extra layer of humor
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Compliance alert: bad news
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Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions
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"If advertising had a little more respect for the public, the public would have a lot more respect for advertising."
James Randolph Adams
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To determine your tone of voice, consider:
1. Content type2. e reader's emotional state
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Ask yourself
What situation is the reader in that's bringing her to this content?What situation will this content put her in?How does the reader feel right now?How will this content make her feel?What can I do to maintain the reader's state of mind or put her in a better one?
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Sensitive subjects
health and medicinereligionpoliticsmoneyprivate informationtranslation issues
Sensitive content types
help contentcontact pageFAQformsprivacy policyfailure messages and alerts
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Friendly reminder from the Fake AP Stylebook
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"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader."
Robert Frost
"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader."
Robert Frost
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Tufts University’s voice and tone guidelines
Tufts University’s voice and tone wiki
wikis.uit.tufts.edu
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Tufts University’s voice and tone guidelines
wikis.uit.tufts.edu
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Indiana University Alumni AssociationIU Alumni Association’s word oppositions
alumni.indiana.edu
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be.macmillan.org.uk
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Macmillan Cancer Support’s empathetic writing guide
be.macmillan.org.uk
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WRONG tone of voice
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Obama campaign’s unsubscribe screen
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Romney campaign’s unsubscribe screen
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Photojojo’s unsubscribe form
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Photojojo’s unsubscribe screen
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Tea Muse’s unsubscribe screen
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"e consumer isn’t a moron. She is your wife."
David Ogilvy
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Find your voiceSpeak onto the page
Watch your toneKnow when to keep a straight face
Be honest
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Current 404
mint.com 404
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404 reject
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Woot’s product description
woot.com
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Woot’s contact page
woot.com
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Find your voiceSpeak onto the page
Watch your toneKnow when to keep a straight face
Be honest
![Page 52: Voice and Tone: Creating content for humans (Kate Kiefer Lee)](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022052618/54b5f8c34a7959fa218b45c5/html5/thumbnails/52.jpg)
Warby Parker’s roots
warbyparker.com
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Warby Parker’s library
warbyparker.com
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Warby Parker’s writing guide
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Warby Parker’s story page
warbyparker.com
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"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."
Maya Angelou
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Thanks.
@katekiefer
voiceandtone.com mailchimp.com