Resource Centre Writing Tips

Writing the Right Tone

Tone refers to the way you express yourself to your readers. The attitude you have towards your subject or your reader will influence the emotional and intellectual impact of your writing.

Tone can be formal, informal, ironic, angry, sarcastic, hopeful, cheerful, humorous, bitter — that is, it covers the full range of human emotion.

Obviously, if you make your tone as positive as possible, you're more likely to receive a good response from the reader. However, it is often very difficult to edit yourself for tone. The following tips might help you.

• Research your readers. By knowing their fears, hopes and anxieties you can more easily adjust your tone to suit their needs.
• When writing your document, imagine that you're talking to a real person. This technique will prevent any stiffness or pretentiousness from slipping into your document.
• When imagining your reader, make sure it is someone that you like. In some cases this will mean having a proxy reader in mind, i.e., someone you do like and who is on a similar level to the actual reader.
• Ask a colleague to check the tone of your document.

Resource Centre Home