Does your internal communications tone of voice sound like corporate speak — or like it was copied and pasted directly from an AI platform? How your brand communicates with employees is just as important as how it speaks to customers or clients.
Here are five things you might want to avoid in your tone of voice:
The writing in a lot of well-intentioned employee communications comes off as unnecessarily patronizing. Or worse, like a schoolteacher instructing unruly students. When the internal communications tone of voice speaks to employees as peers instead of subordinates, it levels the playing field and shows respect for the people who make up your workforce.
Would you say the words “synergize” or “utilize” in conversation with a friend? As much as possible, let your internal communications tone of voice reflect the way real people talk to each other, without using corporate jargon. When you lean too heavily on business buzzwords, it can make employees question what you’re really trying to say.
AI can be great for a first draft or converting existing communications to a different length or format. But authenticity is important for building employee trust in corporate communications. Don't trust AI more than you trust your own instincts or taste levels. Even if you've trained an AI platform to use your brand voice, the output will still need a human touch.
The goal is for internal communications to be an ongoing conversation, not a one-way flow of company information being spewed at employees. Tone of voice can help by being more conversational and starting with the expectation that employees will share their voice as well. And then provide a two-way channel so they can join the conversation.
Writing conversationally doesn’t mean that anything goes. Conventions like punctuation, spelling and grammar remain important, even when using a casual tone of voice. Confusing “you’re” and “your,” for instance, isn’t conversational; it’s amateurish. If your writing is studded with grammatical or spelling mistakes, employees will notice.
