The tone of your content helps add colour and texture to the big picture of your business. These are the most common tone choices and how they can be used in content you produce to show your expertise.

Notice how the same information is conveyed in each tone.

Just like the clothes you wear everyday, the words you use should be the right fit and feel good.

I generally use one of three different tones when writing, depending on the audience, purpose and medium for the work.

Conversational - friendly and approachable

Imagine you're sitting in a coffee shop with a non-industry friend, having a chat about your work. The words you use and the way you share are on a different level than how you'd talk with colleagues. You tend to avoid, or at least explain, jargon or terminology that isn't obvious.

Business casual - collegial information sharing

Chatting with your colleagues about work and industry trends can seem casual, but inevitably you slip in terms and acronyms that everyone knows without explaining them. You might speak in a slightly more formal manner because of the work setting as well. This style tends to feel most comfortable for businesses.

Corporate - formal professionalism

Professional services firms, such as accountants, lawyers, financial services, government and consultants tend to speak fluent corporate. This tone tends to be formal and generally includes more industry jargon, legalese and greater complexity in the way the writing is structured.

How do each of these tones read in practice?

I put together a sample piece about the value of outsourcing to demonstrate how the same piece can be written using different voice and tone to convey the same message.

The conversational version

How many times have you done something you don't like or don't have skills to do just because you didn't think you could afford to hire someone?

If you're like most of the small business owners I talk to, you probably lost count long ago. 

The problem comes when you spend so much time doing these tasks that you don't have time to do the actual work you get paid to do for clients and customers.

But there are people out there who have the skills and training to do it faster and better.

Seeing the price tag on freelance work and consulting contracts can be a little startling at first. But you have to remember you're paying for top notch expertise to do occasional work. And, if you're smart about who you hire and what you have them do, you'll like the results.

The big question: Are you really saving anything if the work takes you five times longer than the experts? Or is it costing you more than you realize?

After all, when you're not struggling to finish tasks you aren't interested in or knowledgeable about, you'll be free to do the work you were meant to do.

The business casual version

We're living in highly productive times, but that doesn't mean everyone's working longer hours to get more done - nor should they! In fact, the old adage "work smarter, not harder" is motivating better delegation and outsourcing practices.

Working smarter means prioritizing tasks by keeping the things that only you can do and letting go of tasks that others can do as well or better.

You can break it down by genius work and not-genius work. 

Genius work includes all the tasks and activities people ask you to do because of your expertise or specialist knowledge. If it's part of your individual job mandate, you can't always choose to delegate those items - especially not strategic and managerial requirements.

On the not-genius side, you can find a lot to delegate. From administrivial paperwork that can go to an assistant, to a multitude of tasks freelancers can do - such as writing or design work. If the work doesn't fall under the category of items only you can do, you can reclaim time by giving it to someone else.

Don't get bogged down and overwhelmed by work you can hand off to someone else. Look for opportunities to spread the load and show how much you value the contributions of people on your team.

The corporate version

Delegating (or outsourcing) is one of the most cost-effective ways to reclaim your time. As a business owner, senior leader or decision maker in your organization, you need to have the right people to take on tasks that need to be completed. Relying on subject matter experts and niche specialists means you can focus on the important aspects of managing your own work and flow of tasks. 

It's a common misconception that it's cheaper and easier to just do it yourself. However, if you aren't skilled in the area you need help - for example, writing - the time it takes to complete even simple tasks multiplies quickly. An effective litmus test for determining the need to delegate or outsource work can be taken with these questions:

1. Is the task something only you can perform?

2. Does it fall under your individual job responsibilities?

3. Are there higher priority tasks you should be doing instead?

Prioritizing work is a crucial leadership skill. Knowing when to delegate or outsource shows your team that you value your time and trust them to complete mission-critical work assignments. 

Be flexible and appropriate with tone

The tone of your content may vary depending on the context or medium. The occasional witty tweet may break up a stream of casual but enthusiastic tweets sharing information. You may write conversational blog posts 99% of the time and have slightly more formal and technical blog posts the other 1% of the time.

It’s okay to have exceptions that prove the rule. Done well, those exceptions can be a good way to get noticed.

Find a natural fit for your brand

How refreshing would it be to have law offices and financial services firms adopt more accessible, easy-to-understand and find what you need language and content on their websites? While we’re at it, let’s add government, too. I think we all get frustrated with trying to find information/answers to questions on government sites. (CRA/IRS, lookin’ at you!)

Ultimately, there are challenges (regulations/managing expectations) in each of these examples that require caution in how content is worded. But some businesses in highly regulated industries are simplifying their content to make it easier for the layperson to understand what’s in it for them. It’s great to see this!

At the same time, it’s important to ensure that the experience people have with your brand is cohesive, from the first interaction to the last. If the content produced is clever, informative and casual, but people walk into traditionally decorated rich, mahogany strewn offices where everyone’s wearing high-end suits, there could be a disconnect between the first impressions and the longer-term experience.

By the same token, it would be jarring for a business that’s casual and fun to adopt a formal tone in content.

Don’t be afraid to shift your tone as your business evolves

There was a time in internet history when many businesses rarely used a conversational tone in content. There were concerns about how content would be received. But as some businesses had good results, it made it easier for others to follow suit.

Businesses don’t have to make decisions about tone just once. As mentioned above, there may be fluctuations in tone even within your body of content. Like everything else in marketing, when you want to make a change, come up with a hypothesis and test it.