Tone and Style

Why Tone is Vital for Success

One of the most vital aspects of any piece of writing is building audience trust. If your reader does not feel that what you are saying is genuine and convincing, then any point the text has to make will be nullified. To establish a strong and effective relationship with your reader, you need to maintain a proper level of appropriate tone and style. Tone is used to show how you feel about your audience, and style is the expression, in writing, of that attitude.

What Tone is

Tone begins with who your audience is. Your tone should give them a clear impression of your attitude towards them. The logical expression of this feeling, your style, should be an obvious reflection of how you feel towards your audience. Depending on the context, tone and style can be used to build an image of you in the readers mind.

 If the hope is for your audience to feel as if they know you on a personal level, or if they do, in fact, know you on a personal level, you should be writing with language and colloquialisms in hopes of reaffirming their view of you on a personal level. On the other hand, if it is not appropriate to engage your audience on a personal level, there needs to be a certain amount of distance between you and them. This will, again, reaffirm their view of you on a professional level.

Patterns of Tone 

Abandoned Vs. Restrained:

 Depending on the level of professionalism or lack thereof you are trying to achieve, you need to carefully choose your levels of colloquialism. You may be trying to convince a customer that you are friends, but a level of restraint must be maintained when addressing a position of respect, such as your boss.

Affected vs. Improved:

Affected writing (jargon), will only serve to confuse your reader, professional or otherwise. What may be an attempt to impress will only turn your audience away.

Serving the Reader:

Your writing should, especially when asking a request or making a demand, be focused on how the reader will benefit from the content. You may be looking for personal gain, but in professional writing the reader must always come first.

Excess vs. Reason

All of the qualifications for successful tone and style must be each be used sparingly. While a casual tone might make a reader feel welcome, too much will only come across as inauthentic on your part. Likewise, depending on your relationship with the audience, too much restraint will bore your readers and turn them away.