Voice and tone

What is the difference between voice and tone?

While Athabasca University’s voice is based on our unique brand personality, our tone is based on our audience and the emotional context of a given situation.

Your tone might be upbeat and excited when you’re announcing your promotion to your family but very different when you console a friend who just lost their job. The same applies to Athabasca University’s brand’s voice and tone. Our voice doesn’t change, but our tone adapts to whatever the situation requires.

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Our voice

We believe that education can, and should, be accessible to everyone—and our voice represents this. 

Athabasca University’s voice is:

Welcoming

Friendly, warm, and inclusive towards all audiences.

Authentic

Human and relatable rather than stodgy and technical.

Direct

Focused and instructional without being abrupt.

Confident

Positive and assuring without being condescending.

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Choosing a tone

Voice is a constant, but tone varies. A consistently cheerful tone, for example, may inspire your audience in one scenario, but alienate them in another. As a result of poorly adjusted tone, your message—however valuable or well-intended—will likely be lost on your reader. 

Before you begin crafting your content, consider these 3 elements to make sure you strike the right tone:

Content type

What are you writing?

Reader

Who are you addressing?

Reader feelings

What state of mind is your reader likely in?

Tips

• Be helpful and straightforward. Your priority is to directly answer the user’s question(s).
• Be conversational and personable. This is a direct interaction with a person looking for your help.
• Avoid over-marketing and terminology they might not be familiar with.
• Don’t overwhelm the reader with links and information that aren’t directly relevant to their inquiry.

Examples

• At Athabasca University, your previous education and experience count! We don’t want to teach you what you already know, so we offer the option of getting credit for your prior learning. That could mean taking fewer courses to get your degree, saving you valuable time and money.
• Lessons learned outside the classroom are relevant and valued at Athabasca University. Why spend time and money to study something you already know when Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) can let you focus on new learning?