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title: "Defining Voice and Tone Process"
canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/DOCSGUIDE/699007022/Defining%20Voice%20and%20Tone%20Process"
format: markdown
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This article explains how to define the microcopy’s voice and tone.

> ⚠️ Although the voice and tone are defined by other teams, it is important to take the time to become familiar with them.


## **Overview**

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The voice and tone design defines the language in two main ways: Personality and Messaging.


### **Personality**

Personality defines the characteristics you wish to convey to users with your language, such as the right tone, degree of formality, degree of humor (if any), use (or no use) of slang, pace of speech, warmth, friendliness, etc.

***Example:**** Chaos is a brand driven by dynamic innovation, empowering communities, and bold action.*

You can find the company’s guidelines for the general tone of voice here: [https://chaos.frontify.com/d/YwK5sguRh3KZ/style-guide#/brand-overview/tone-of-voice](https://chaos.frontify.com/d/YwK5sguRh3KZ/style-guide#/brand-overview/tone-of-voice)

### **Messaging  **

Messaging defines the main messages, e.g. what you will highlight to get users to act, and what you should say to make them feel good about themselves and your brand.  
***Example:**** Chaos main brand pillars are patrons of visualization, problem solvers, unlocking creativity, and connecting communities.*

You can find the company’s official messaging here: [https://chaos.frontify.com/d/YwK5sguRh3KZ/style-guide#/brand-overview/our-story-1601331893](https://chaos.frontify.com/d/YwK5sguRh3KZ/style-guide#/brand-overview/our-story-1601331893)


## **Process Stages**

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The process of designing a voice consists of several stages:

- **Get to know your brand** - This includes reading the brand’s style guides and voice guidelines (such as those in Frontify), reviewing UX concepts and personas, familiarizing yourself with the company’s vision and mission, and studying UX research on brand perception and customer satisfaction.
- **Getting to know your audience** – Define user demographics; identify users’ needs, problems, hopes, dreams, objections, and concerns; and compile a list of user preferences.  
*For example, Envision users might be concerned about the product’s complex UI and numerous options; Vantage users might be concerned about pricing; and all Chaos users might be concerned about telemetry and data protection.*
- **Listen to what users say** - Look for strong quotes, authentic phrases, and commonly used terms by users. Good sources include forums, YouTube comments, and Facebook groups.
- **Listen to what colleagues say** – Pay attention to how key company personnel talk about the product.
- **Put all the pieces together in a document **– Consolidate your discussions and findings into a single, structured document.


Look for keywords that reflect the company’s values. This list provides 116 keywords. Choose the ones that best describe Chaos:

![TechGuide_Voice_Values.png](media://fadfd55c-1a87-4df4-9498-896e9ab712c9)



## **Principals**

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The principles are discussed in the [Microcopy Guide article](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DOCSGUIDE/pages/685015045).

- Define a word list
- Define a terminology list
- Define verbosity
- Define grammar
- Define punctuation and capitalization


## **Chaos Tone**

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