To write in any tone a client asks for, answer three questions before you start: why am I writing this, who is my audience, and what do I want from my readers? The answers tell you which words, examples, and facts set the right tone.
When you write for clients, they often ask you to write in a certain tone that matches their image. They may want you to be informal, formal, fun, optimistic, pessimistic, humorous, straightforward, or any other tone they need.
Changing your tone is hard when you have several clients, and each of them wants you to approach a topic differently. So how do you do it?
Three questions to ask before you write
Before you write, ask yourself these questions:
- Why am I writing this?
- Who is my audience?
- What do I want from my readers?
1. Why am I writing this?
Imagine that your client asks you to write about air pollution, in an optimistic tone. The client wants to promote a new line of air purifiers, and your article should win the readers over and make them more willing to invest in one.
In your writing, use adjectives that signal optimism. Let your readers know that air pollution is real, but that they do not have to worry about it as much anymore.
2. Who is my audience?
Staying with the example above, think about who your audience is. The obvious readers are health-conscious people, parents with babies or small children at home, older people who want to keep their lungs healthy, and so on. These are the people your client most likely wants to reach.
How would you talk to these people in an optimistic way?
Try to reassure them in your writing. Encourage them to keep a positive outlook and to focus on the things they can change.
3. What do I want from my readers?
In this example, the goal is clear: you want the readers to buy your client's product, or at least to know that the solution exists. Show them that your client's product can give them the peace of mind they deserve.
Show your readers what is great about the product. For example, how well does the air purifier filter out harmful particles? Does the filter last long? Is it free of ozone, which can harm the lungs of people and pets?
If the product has a drawback, do not hide it, but give more room to its strengths than to its weaknesses. Overall, you still tell the story in an optimistic tone.
What about other tones?
"What if my client wants me to be fun and humorous?"
That's an easy one. Look for jokes or funny stories that match the topic, and work one into the first paragraph of your text. You do not need to make your readers laugh out loud. If you can make them smile a little and become more open to your ideas, you have done your job.
"OK, and what if they ask me to be pessimistic?"
Still easy. Find reliable figures about how poor air quality harms people's health, and put them in front of your readers. Facts like these are not hard to find. Always name your source, so your readers can check them.
The same three questions help with every other tone, for example when you have to choose between a formal and an informal style. To make a text sound like you, whatever the tone, see how to add personality to your writing.
One more thing: tone is not an excuse for mistakes
An informal tone allows things a formal one does not: contractions, slang, and the occasional sentence fragment. Spelling and grammar mistakes are not part of it, though, because they only make a text look careless. Whatever the tone, check your text with the Spell Checker before you send it, and save yourself unnecessary revision requests from your client.