The importance of tone of voice in being effective with content. Helping companies speak with one voice means providing guidance and governance on language across the whole organization.

1. Speaking with one voice
How to develop a distinctive personality

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Acrolinx linguistic technology helps
some of the world’s greatest brands
speak with one voice

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Some customers
Software
Aerospace
Financial
Healthcare
Hightech
Engineering

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… and stand out in the crowd

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Everyone is competing for eyeballs

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Everyone is competing for eyeballs

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!1'000!!
!'900!!
!'800!!
!'700!!
!'600!!
!'500!!
!'400!!
!'300!!
!'200!!
!'100!!
!"!!!!
1400s! 1500s! 1600s! 1700s!
Millions'
Books'printed'

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”The world is moving so fast these days
that the man who says it can't be done
is generally interrupted by someone
doing it.”
Elbert Hubbard († 1915)

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Most companies react to the content
overload by …

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… creating more content

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“This content is not for us”
Kristina Halvorson

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No one cares about you,
they only care about themselves

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Empathy

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What’s in this presentation for you?

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How to help your organization
actually genuinely get better at
content!

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But wait, what's the plan?

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(Kristina H. again)

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"Content Strategy" is the plan

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Define your target audience

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The target audience is in the middle of
everything…

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"We will share user-facing task-based content
that makes our customers feel smart and
safe, both personally and professionally.”

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So, we all know that we "just" need
content and lots of it!

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So, we all know that we "just" need
content and lots of it!
But not just any content, it needs to
be great content, ...

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... that speaks your customer’s language
and engages them.

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With language and tone-of-voice,
you project your personality

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© Roger Perry

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Content x Tone = Impact
(Doug Kessler @dougkessler)

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Destroy. All. Robot.
Language.
before after
modify
change
perform
do
purchase
buy
terminate
end
navigate
go
image
picture
toggle
switch
obtain
get
configure
set up
execute
run
resolve
fix
enable
allow
halt
stop
value
number
Voice at Microsoft

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Voice at EasyJet

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This is how you stand out in the crowd,
get interest and trust

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One market-leading tech company
anonymized their content and tested it
on customers against the competition

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NO ONE COULD TELL THE DIFFERENCE!

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So take your tone seriously, it's a critical
part of your brand.

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"Nowadays, everyone is in marketing"

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You just need to get everyone in the
organization creating great content that
works.

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Cats are not allowed in this garden

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So, more content and better content…

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How?

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Well, two things are certain:
1. Doing nothing is not an option
2. Doing what you've done up to now is not an option

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Doing either of these things is
a high-risk strategy.
This is one of those
moments in history...

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1. Set Standards

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1. Set Standards
- Words & Phrases (brand, message, what do we call what we do?)

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1. Set Standards
- Words & Phrases (brand, message, what do we call what we do?)
- Tone of Voice (write like a human, not a robot)

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1. Set Standards
- Words & Phrases (brand, message, what do we call what we do?)
- Tone of Voice (write like a human, not a robot)
- Be Brave! (or at least don't be scared)

52. @abredenkamp #ConfabEU
1. Set Standards
- Words & Phrases (brand, message, what do we call what we do?)
- Tone of Voice (write like a human, not a robot)
- Be Brave! (or at least don't be scared)

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This is about making your tone explicit,
and getting away from
simple personas and adjectives

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Personal:
College-age children
Golfer
Career-focussed

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Which is better for a golfer?

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Is this your style guide?

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You need to make your guidance
actionable

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2. Give your content teams guidance,
not just training

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3. Get Governance: Measure your
content constantly

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together
Our work is personal

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Help your teams
speak with one voice