# Tone of voice

Tone of voice is how your business sounds when it writes and speaks: the words it chooses, how formal it is and how personal it is.

Source: https://ibenta.no/en/glossary/tone-of-voice
Publisher: Ibenta (https://ibenta.no)
Updated: 2026-09-27

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[Visual identity](/en/glossary/visual-identity) is how you look. Tone of voice is how you sound. It covers your website, your ads, your emails, your quotes and the automatic order confirmation. Customers notice when a business is warm on the front page and stiff in the payment reminder, even if nobody says so out loud.

## Same message, two voices

"We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused." Or: "Sorry, that was our mistake. We will fix it today." Both are polite. The first sounds like a system, the second like a person. Which one fits depends on who you are and who you are talking to. A law firm and a coffee bar should not sound the same.

## Write it down

A tone of voice only works if several people can use it. Describe it with pairs like "friendly, but not matey" or "expert, but not heavy". Make a short list of words you use and words you avoid. If you know which [archetype](/en/glossary/brand-archetype) your brand resembles, that gives you a good starting point. You can find it with our free [brand test](https://brand.ibenta.no).

## Do this today

Read your front page, the last email you sent to a customer and the automatic confirmation customers receive. Do they sound like the same business? Pick the one that sounds most like you, and use it as the template next time you write.