Engagement - Why Your Tone Is Important

Analyzing your audience and the purpose of your message is the key to successful business writing. As well as helping you decide what content and how much detail to include, it helps you apply the right tone in your writing.

nalyzing your audience and the purpose of your message is the key to successful business writing. As well as helping you decide what content and how much detail to include, it helps you apply the right tone in your writing.

Tone refers to the style or manner of expression you use, in your speech or writing.

Just like in a conversation, the tone you use in your writing affects the way a reader interprets and responds to your message.

In a conversation, you can gauge the reader's immediate reaction and change your tone accordingly. But once you've committed words to paper, you won't have a chance to do this. So it's doubly important to choose the right tone in your written messages.

And the tone you choose in your writing should be guided by who you want to read the material, why you want them to, and what reaction you hope to get.

Using the appropriate tone will prevent you from alienating the reader. It will also positively influence the reader's attitude and help the reader connect with your message.

There are reasons for using the right tone.

PREVENT YOU FROM ALIENATING THE READER

If you use a tone that's too casual, for example with a senior company executive, you may cause offense. Or the executive might pay less attention to the message you want to convey. Similarly, using a tone that's too formal with teammates could appear "high-handed" and unfriendly.

INFLUENCE THE READER'S ATTITUDE

Using the right tone can help set the mood and form the attitude of your reader. This makes it more likely you'll get the desired response to your message.

HELP THE READER CONNECT

By using the right tone and choosing your words carefully, you can help readers "hear your voice." You can make them feel more connected to what you are writing about.

QUESTION

Why is it important to use the appropriate tone in business communications?

1. To prevent alienating readers
2. To influence the reader's attitude based on what you want a message to achieve
3. To help the reader connect with what you write about
4. To make what you write seem more believable
5. To ensure all your readers like you

Using an appropriate tone will prevent you from alienating readers, help you influence their attitudes positively, and ensure they connect with what you write about. Whether or not your written message is believable will be influenced more by how well-researched and accurate it is, irrespective of tone. And your tone might make you more likable to the reader, but it does not always ensure that every reader will like you.

Only the first three examples are correct.

I have been teaching and training agents, team leaders, supervisors, managers and admins of call centers and other businesses in BPO related fields. This series, comes as a result of that experience. I have more than 4,000 modules that I plan on sharing here. This is # 004-08

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