Define it simply. The best voice guides we’ve seen describe the voice in three or four words, then give examples of what that sounds like in practice. “Warm, practical, direct” is more useful than a two-page essay about your organisational values. Show, don’t just tell — include real examples of your voice done well, and examples of what you don’t sound like.
Tone shifts; voice doesn’t. Your voice stays consistent, but your tone adapts to context. You’d write a fundraising appeal differently from a policy submission, but both should sound recognisably like your organisation. Think of it like a person: you speak differently at a job interview and at a barbecue, but you’re still you.
Voice in the age of AI. Here’s a new challenge: AI tools can generate content at scale, but they default to a generic, slightly corporate tone. If your team is using AI to draft communications (and they probably are), your brand voice guide becomes more important than ever. It’s the reference point that keeps AI-assisted content sounding like you rather than sounding like everyone else. Give your team a voice guide they can paste into an AI prompt — a few sentences describing the voice, plus two or three “this is us / this isn’t us” examples.
