In your communications for the College, it's important to consider the audience you are writing for and how they will best respond to the message you need to deliver. Just like in verbal communication, the tone of voice you use in your writing can affect how readers understand and engage with the message.

Tone of voice can encompass elements such as the style of the language you use, the level of formality or technical information included.

The tone of voice we use in communications at Imperial is informed by the following key principles. We are:

• inclusive and approachable: we use language that includes people in our communciations. We use 'you', 'our' and 'we'. If we talk about someone's personal characteristics, like their gender or ethnicity, we make sure that information is relevant and accurate.
• dynamic and engaging: we prefer active language ('applications are open') rather than passive language ('applications have been opened'). We aim to show, as well as tell, by using examples and facts and figures. We bring warmth and personality to our communications when its appropriate.
• clear and direct: we avoid jargon, use straightforward language and simple sentence structure where we can. We are consistent in how we write about who we are, what we do and how we talk about the world we live in.

While different communications will need to use different styles and levels of formality, all of our communications should aim to reflect these principles.

What does this mean for my writing?

In your writing, you should think about the tone of the piece of the communication that will best suit the audience you want to reach and the message you want to deliver.

Think about what you want the audience to think, say, feel or do once they've read your communication. For instance, if you are writing a message for students about a social event or a new course, you might use a more fun and informal tone, whereas if you are writing a message for students about exams, you would probably adopt a more serious, formal tone.

If you're having trouble, a good tip is to think about how you would address the audience if you were speaking to them directly, in person. Reading your draft aloud to yourself or to a colleague is a good way to test out if you're hitting the right note.