Why tone of voice is every organisation’s business

When most people think about “tone of voice”, they imagine glossy brand bibles and large marketing teams. But tone isn’t just for the giants. It’s the most human part of your brand and it matters just as much when your team is only ten people strong and juggling a hundred jobs!

That’s what makes defining your tone of voice such a powerful act. It’s not a vanity project, it’s about consistency, connection and culture. Done well, it can unlock clarity and confidence across your whole organisation, build trust and, crucially, save time! That’s what we saw firsthand when we partnered with Cambridgeshire ACRE.

“At Cambridgeshire ACRE, we’re a small team with big ambitions. With 18 staff all communicating in slightly different ways, I knew we needed a consistent tone of voice. Something that could reflect our newly developed organisational values and help us speak with one voice while still sounding human and approachable.” – Cambridgeshire ACRE

Helping Cambridgeshire ACRE define a voice everyone can use

Cambridgeshire ACRE is a respected charity that’s been serving rural communities for over a century. They’ve grown steadily, and with that came a familiar challenge: more people writing on behalf of the organisation, across social media, in reports, as part of funding bids and in blog posts, but without a shared language or reference point.

Our work together started with a simple need: to help everyone write in the same voice, regardless of their role. But it quickly became something bigger. We surfaced the personality that already existed – approachable, passionate, grounded – and shaped it into something practical, human and, above all, useable.

“What came back was a set of values and a tone of voice that sound exactly like us: clear, warm and rooted in what we believe in.” – Cambridgeshire ACRE

The process: giving Cambridgeshire ACRE a shared language

We created a framework that:

Defined four tonal scales, (e.g. formal vs casual, serious vs funny), each with a clear rating that reflects where Cambridgeshire ACRE naturally sits.
Translated those tonal scales into practical do’s and don’ts, with example phrases and before-and-after rewrites to show the tone in action.
Developed tone personas to help staff visualise how the voice should sound and feel.
Clarified “We are…” and “We are not…” statements, giving every writer a simple, values-led reference point.
Delivered training and tools that empowered the team to write with confidence and consistency, whoever the audience.

“Chantal and Hayley completely got it. From the first conversation, they understood what I was trying to achieve and why.” – Cambridgeshire ACRE

Embedding the tone with AI: the custom prompt

When we began working with Cambs ACRE, the brief did not include AI. But as we got under the skin of their challenge, with multiple people writing from different perspectives and all needing to sound consistent, we saw a gap. Our recommendation was to create a reusable AI prompt that would act as a writing support tool, stitching their new tone of voice into everyday content creation.

Part of our work included tailoring that prompt to Cambridgeshire ACRE’s voice. It helps staff generate first drafts in ChatGPT that hit the right level of formality, warmth and credibility right from the off. No more blank pages and no more guesswork.

“After sharing the final documents with the team, it became obvious that we needed a simpler way to embed them into everyday writing. Chantal responded brilliantly, creating an AI prompt that we now use as a tool to sense-check and strengthen everything from blogs to news stories.” – Cambridgeshire ACRE

The prompt was built on the tone of voice guidance we had co-created with Cambs ACRE, so that when someone uses it to draft a blog or social post, they can focus on telling the story of their project, the part they know best, with peace of mind that the wording will also hit the right tonal notes. In practice, it means even non-communications staff can produce copy that feels on-brand. It is already saving time, reducing stress and, crucially, it protects the brand personality at every touchpoint.

This was never about ticking a box. It was about thinking bigger, offering a solution they did not know existed until we raised it as their trusted partner. By proactively identifying the need, we gave the team a tool that makes their guidelines instantly usable, every single day.

“The AI prompt has been a real game-changer for us. It’s taken the pressure off staff who don’t write often, and given us confidence that our voice will come through every time.” – Cambridgeshire ACRE

The impact of all that work?

A unified voice across all written outputs means communications are now clearer, warmer and more efficient to produce. Everyone, from volunteers to trustees, knows how Cambridgeshire ACRE should sound. And just as importantly, how it shouldn’t. It matters because every interaction is an opportunity to inspire confidence, build trust and foster genuine connections.

“The difference has been immediate. Staff feel more confident in their writing, knowing they have a tool that helps them communicate clearly and consistently. One colleague, who had never written for an external audience before, used the prompt to draft a blog, submitted it and was genuinely moved by the positive response.” – Cambridgeshire ACRE

What happens if you don’t define your tone?

Without a clear, shared tone of voice, organisations face a number of emerging risks:

Mixed messages: Audiences hear one thing from a newsletter and another from a policy paper. Confusion sets in.
Reduced trust: Inconsistency creates a sense of unreliability, especially for funders and partners.
Internal friction: Colleagues second-guess each other’s writing. Rewrites and approvals become bottlenecks.
Lost identity: Over time, the personality of an organisation dilutes until it’s just… words.

None of these are show-stoppers in isolation. But together, they chip away at confidence, internally and externally. A clear tone doesn’t just solve this; it prevents it altogether.

Why this work matters now

Tone of voice isn’t just about sounding good. It’s about sounding like you. As organisations grow, adding team members, broadening audiences, communicating more often, it becomes harder to sound consistent. And yet that’s when consistency matters most.

For organisations like Cambridgeshire ACRE, who balance professionalism with community connection, tone becomes the thread that ties everything together. It’s not a luxury. It’s infrastructure.

Our advice to growing organisations

If you’ve never thought about your tone before, now might be the time if:

Multiple people are writing on behalf of your organisation
You’re working across different platforms or channels
You’re applying for funding or building partnerships
You want to save time and write with more confidence
You’re integrating new people into the business

You don’t need a 50-page tone of voice document. But you do need clarity, a shared understanding and a way to put it into action.

And if you’re ready for help…

Keystone can guide you through it. We work closely with teams to surface their authentic voice, define what good looks like and embed it across everything you write. The result? Communications that feel more human, more consistent, and more you.

If that sounds like what you need, let’s chat.

“I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend working with Chantal. She was responsive, positive and supportive throughout and the end result has made a real difference to how we communicate with the world.” – Cambridgeshire ACRE