{"id":3226,"date":"2020-06-04T04:10:55","date_gmt":"2020-06-04T04:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.hassler.ec\/wp\/?p=3226"},"modified":"2020-05-16T01:14:02","modified_gmt":"2020-05-16T01:14:02","slug":"tone-of-voice-strategy-in-technical-documentation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.hassler.ec\/wp\/2020\/06\/04\/tone-of-voice-strategy-in-technical-documentation\/","title":{"rendered":"Tone of Voice Strategy in Technical Documentation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The tone of voice is quite a popular idea, especially for big companies. It provides the means to improve communication and connect with clients on a more personal level. Is there a place for the tone of voice in help authoring? We think there is. It is called\u00a0technical\u00a0communication<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0after all.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s try to understand what the tone of voice is and find the best ways to apply it to help writing.<\/p>\n

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The Voice of Your Company<\/h1>\n
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The tone of voice is how you choose to speak to clients through all communication channels. This includes everything starting from the actual voice tones of your phone support, sales reps and ending with images on your website and the lexical units your company chooses in its texts. It\u2019s like your whole company is a human being that has a character which is reflected in everything it does. The tone of voice is how you would like to be seen, or\u2026heard.<\/p>\n

Ideally, every person in your company is trying to be nice and helpful to customers, but everyone has a different idea of what this means. When a company has a tone of voice strategy mapped out, all employees understand how exactly they should communicate with clients. This is a conscious choice to move from random acts of niceness to a major goal-driven strategy.<\/p>\n

This is when it brings maximum results. If that\u2019s the case for you, the documentation team will be able to use the corporate guidelines and follow them.<\/p>\n

The Voice of Your Documentation<\/h1>\n

Sometimes, the documentation team has to come up with a voice of tone strategy on its own when all that is available to them is a vague idea of what the overall tone of voice for the company is. This is especially true for technical writing agencies \u2014 they have to create\u00a0user manuals<\/a>\u00a0for many companies and sometimes the tone of voice is simply not part of the conversation. Often, companies still view technical documentation as something that is not supposed to be influenced by the tone of voice strategy, unlike marketing\/customer success. However, we advise that you go through this anyway \u2014 it works perfectly as a side question for better understanding how to treat the target audience right.<\/p>\n

Voice of Tone Advice for Tech Writers<\/h1>\n
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When you write documentation, every word choice matters. We have some tips for you how to make the right one:<\/p>\n