Voice & Tone

Introduction

One way we create useful content that resonates with our target demographics is by being aware of our voice and our tone. At Sonatype, many people represent our voice. People in marketing create webpages, ads, press releases, and whitepapers. Product managers create blogs. Our Learning team creates documentation and our Customer Success teams create educational content. With so many people contributing to one voice, consistency without guardrails can be a challenge.  

This guide was created to help better define our voice so that it can be more consistently applied across all facets of our business that touch our customers, prospects, community, and partners.

Why Are Voice and Tone Important?

Think about the way people in your life speak. There’s something to the cadence of your mom’s voice when she greets you on the phone, the way your best friend uses big adjectives to describe small things, the consistent way the barista at your local coffee shop says “Good morning!”

These unmistakable style quirks are called voice when applied to writing. Your writing voice can consist of words you do or don’t use when you write, turns of phrase you’re fond of, the way you write a sentence, or the way you structure an argument—your voice is the fingerprint you leave on your writing so that someone can identify it as yours. [SOURCE: GRAMMARLY]

What's the Difference Between Voice and Tone?

“Tone and voice” can be easy to mix up, especially when they’re said together so often. They’re distinct ideas, but they both point to the same thing: your way of expressing yourself. Unlike spelling, grammar, and punctuation, tone and voice have to do with how you express what you’re saying—not the accuracy of the rules.

A company’s voice consists of the aspects of the brand that don’t change. This could be words or phrases the company should never use, or characteristics it always has, like “witty” or “friendly.” 

Tone Changes, Voice Doesn’t

Now, think about different situations in which you’ve had to interact with people. How do you know when they’re annoyed? Eye rolls, short responses, visible disinterest, attempts to leave the conversation. Maybe they’ll inflect what they say so you can tell they’re being sarcastic.

These signs are more subtle, and they’re subtle when translated to writing, too. Signs of tone in writing can be translated in word choice, punctuation, even emoji.

If, for example, your boss sent you a Slack message that said, “Do you have a minute to talk?” you might think, “Oh no, what’s wrong?” If she rephrased it as, “Got time to chat real quick?” you might be less alarmed. There isn’t a negative force lurking in the background. That contrast is because of tone.

And while the emotional response you take away from a message may not necessarily be the intention of the sender, it still exists, and people will seek it out when reading. [SOURCE: GRAMMARLY]

Voice and Tone Principles

1. Don’t Try Too Hard

Be genuine. Be confident. Be open.

Remember that “cool uncles” are cool not because they’re like the kids, but because the kids want to be like them. We believe that the best way to reach developers is to invite them to join us, rather than attempting to join them. 

2. Be Human

Be helpful. Be genuine. Be simple.

For us, being human means never losing sight of the fact that, although we are talking about technology, we are talking to humans. The fact that we’re covering complicated issues means that it’s even more important to write in a way that avoids jargon and is straightforward and helpful.

2. Acknowledge the Problem

Be sympathetic. Be clear. Be optimistic.

People have an easier time becoming invested in a product when they feel that you truly understand the problem it’s solving. While it’s important to talk about how our solutions work, we also have an opportunity to focus on what they fix.

Sonatype's Voice

Sonatype’s voice is clear and helpful — balancing honesty regarding audience pain points with a vision for how things should be.

Our Voice Is...

Essential without being compulsory.

NO: Are you using Sonatype to make sure your applications and servers are safe and compliant?

YES: Are your applications — and the servers they are running on — safe and compliant?

Accurate without being nitpicky.

NO: Apache Struts 2 before 2.3.14.2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary OGNL code.

YES: Vulnerable versions of Apache Struts allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary OGNL code.

Trusted without being dull.

NO: Sonatype helps technology companies secure their software supply chains.

YES: What if technology companies no longer had to worry about software supply chain security?

Pioneering without being unorthodox.

NO: It’s possible to build secure software without security in the room.

YES: What Toyota did for manufacturing and supply chain management, we’re doing for software development.

Proactive without being aggressive.

NO: Are you safe from the novel “Dependency Confusion” software supply chain hacks? Find out before it’s too late!

YES: Learn how to avoid the novel “Dependency Confusion” software supply chain hack.

Community-minded without being pandering.

NO: We're just like you, and we know from experience that when it comes to developing great software, distractions are just not cool.

YES: Your job is to develop great software, and nothing (aside from morning stand-ups and Slack memes) should get in your way.

Coherent without being dry.

NO: Reduce open source risk and minimize exposure without slowing innovation.

YES: With open source, you shouldn’t have to choose between “faster” and “safer.”

NO: Any size team or enterprise can secure their software supply chain.

YES: We've got your software supply chain covered. Simply pick the plan that works best for your team.

Approachable without being uninspiring.

NO: Sonatype Nexus One is integrated with 25 leading DevOps platforms and supports 42 languages.

YES: No matter your preferred coding language or DevOps tool, Sonatype Nexus One has you covered.

Genuine without being tactless.

NO: Unfortunately, people rarely come up with new ideas on their own, and that’s what inspired us to create and support Maven Central, the world’s largest repository of open source components. 

YES: The great ideas and products that come from sharing innovation is what inspired us to create and support Maven Central, the world’s most trusted repository of open source components.

Expert without being pedantic.

NO: Whenever new vulnerabilities are disclosed or discovered, Nexus Intelligence immediately validates the exploit path, identifies the root cause, and creates actionable information to help organizations (and development teams) evaluate, triage, and remediate threats faster than adversaries can attack.

YES: Whenever new vulnerabilities are disclosed or discovered, Nexus Intelligence is already finding out what happened and why, and quickly tells you how urgent the problem is — and how to fix it fast.

Style Tips

Use Active Voice

When using active voice, the subject of the sentence does the action. In passive voice, the subject of the sentence has the action done to it.

NO: The account was logged into by Maya.

YES: Maya logged into the account.

Words like “was” and “by” may indicate that you’re writing in passive voice. Scan for these words and rework sentences where they appear. One exception is when you want to emphasize the action over the subject. In some cases, this is fine.

OK: Your account was flagged by our Abuse team.

Prioritize Readability

• Short headlines are faster to absorb. Aim to use headlines with eight words or less.
• Use subheads to break down sections.
• Keep paragraphs short, focusing on one idea per paragraph — a short paragraph has, at most, four sentences.
• Breaking in-depth content into multiple paragraphs creates more white space, which makes content more readable.
• Usability studies have found that 79% of web users scan content rather than read it word for word — scannable content that can be quickly consumed draws users in.
• Keep block quotes shorter than one paragraph.
• Use ordered and unordered lists whenever appropriate in lieu of paragraphs of content — lists are faster to read and provide a visual break for readers.

Understand How People Read Online

Eye Fatigue:

• You actually blink less when you’re looking at a screen, which makes your eyes tire more easily.
• Structuring your copy in short, plain-language paragraphs with plenty of whitespace between them makes your copy easier to read.

Story Hierarchy:

• Because readers may not get to the bottom of your page, try inverting the traditional story hierarchy by putting your conclusion first and filling in background and other story details after.

Write Good Headlines

• Write headlines that balance clarity and curiosity.
• Avoid jargon, bad puns, over-stylizing, and things that could confuse readers.
• Above all, a story’s headline needs to be clear, precise, and relevant.
• However, if a headline is too straightforward, it may fail to pique a reader’s interest.
• Use the ¾ Rule when writing headlines and titles — leave room for readers to connect the dots.
  Example: “There’s more to running your business than production and shipping.”
• Telling only ¾ of your story within a headline lets the reader finish the last quarter in his or her head — this lets your reader become an active participant in the story rather than a passive observer.

Sample Messaging

For Developers:

For Security: