Every organization has its own voice and style. Apple is fun and perky: “Oh! So! Pro!” IBM, on the other hand, is professional and technical: “Plan continuously and with greater accuracy.” Neither voice is better or worse, but both are key to the organization’s image (and self-image). As a writer or instructional designer, it’s your job to match your client’s voice and style, so that the materials you create look and sound like your client.
Of course, not every organization is an Apple or IBM. Many, asked “what’s your voice like?” respond with a shrug or a stammered “um… friendly?” When that’s the case, it may be your job to help establish a voice that makes sense for the organization’s mission and style.
How do you discover or create your client’s voice and style? Here are 7 key tips.
Know your client’s industry. It’s rare for a law firm to “speak” in a comical tone, while it’s common for a non-profit to sound sincere. If your client is selling children’s toys its voice will almost certainly be simple and playful, but if they’re providing funeral services… well, you can probably guess that they won’t be whimsical.
Check their website. A company’s website may not be a perfect reflection of who they are, but chances are that someone did their best to reflect the company’s personality when they built the site. What images did they choose? What tone does their About page use? Are they formal? Chatty? Personal? Professional? Websites say a lot about who a company is (or at least who they perceive themselves to be!).
Ask for sample materials they love. Everyone has a different vision of what looks and sounds terrific. And descriptions don’t always do the trick. What do the words “jazzy,” “fun,” and “sincere” mean to you? Probably something quite different from what they mean to your client. The best way to really understand your client’s vision of themselves is to ask them to show you an example of a great product that does the job well.
Ask 1uestions to clarify. Now you’re sitting across from your client (or on a Zoom call!) with an example of something your client loves. But why do they love it? Ask them! What is it about this design, this choice of words, these colors, these images, that really floats your boat? How do these choices reflect your organizational voice and style? Don’t worry if they can’t really articulate their reasons; you may have to help them in that process.
Start creating. Now that you have some good information to start with, make something–a sample interactive, a sample paragraph, a sample layout–and ask your client to react. What’s great here? What’s not working? Make it very clear that this is the first step in an iterative process, and that you will welcome both positive and negative responses. For some clients, this experience will be eye-opening: they may never have thought about voice before, and for many people, it’s much easier to respond to something (even if it’s something they dislike) than to provide information out of the thin air.
Iterate. You may need to go back and forth with your client a few times before you get the perfect voice and look. That’s actually a good thing, as it means your client is really engaged in the process and its outcome.
Create a style guide. Once you and your client have come to an agreement about the organization’s voice and look, write it down (with illustrations!). Have your client review and sign off. You’re good to go!
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced with matching your client’s voice and style? What additional tips can you share?
This is a wonderful list of tips and one that I would love to save for future business projects. Starting with the research, the plan, and then getting to the design is great advice. I love that you mentioned the back-and-forth process too. It is great reminder in all design that we do that feedback matters and it does not need to be perfect at first attempt. That would be my challenge! Thinking I have failed my client if it is not what they had in mind on the first, or even second try. In that case, it just may be that I need to take it back to your first few steps and reflect before going back to the design table.
Thanks Jaci! I’ve been a freelancer/consultant for 30 years (!!), and one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that NONE of my words are gold. The key is to see the goal as creating the product the client wants — even if, in your own opinion, the client’s vision is less than stellar (and that does happen!).
Great tips. I find that it can be a challenge to figure out the style if it doesn’t exist already. One trick I’ve found is that if you have access to the marketing department, they often have style guides. The technical writing team also often does – assuming the client is big enough to have a marketing or technical writing team.
Have your clients typically already have style guides?
Thanks Rebecca! It reallly runs the gamut. Some have very detailed style guides; others have never heard the term “style guide!” I’m guessing it’s because I have rarely worked with organizations large enough to have a technical writing team or significant marketing operation… and many are non-profits (museums, zoos, etc.), universities, or smaller publishers.
Lisa,
This is such an important topic to keep in mind. At one point I published a quarterly newspaper, and I was in charge of creating all the advertisements. Sometimes a business would send me a complete ad, ready to go, but mostly I’d get a flyer, pamphlet, or just a menu. The less I was given, the more I needed to consider the business’s industry and clientele in order to design an acceptable ad. It was a great learning experience.
Al
And it is a creative challenge too!
Great “how-to” guide on getting to know a new/prospective client. I couldn’t agree more about the importance of the iterative process. Engaging stakeholders, whether they want to contribute to the final details or make multiple key decisions, is so valuable to the successful outcome of a project. One challenge I’ve faced was a change in organizational leadership toward the end of a project and more frequent check-ins would have been helpful.
Sometimes you have to manage the managers, and that can be tough! Thanks so much for your comment!
You offer many terrific insights into crafting a voice for an organization. I especially agree with Asking for Sample Materials They Love. I often ask my clients to provide samples of designs that match their vision when starting a new project. There’s a great quote attributed to Pablo Picasso goes, “Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” Instead of starting from scratch, it is much easier to develop a style when you already know what your client likes.
Thanks Bill — love the quote! Having been asked by clients to “jazz it up,” “make it fun,” etc., I’ve come to recognize that EVERYONE has a different idea of what jazzy, fun, or even authoritative look like!