I developed a tone of voice for the Met Office along with a comprehensive writing style guide.
Effective communications are the bedrock of good customer service – they build trust and confidence in your brand by allowing readers to understand what they need to know quickly and easily. Good writing always puts readers first. Ask yourself: what are they interested in? How can I help them? What should they do next? Well-written copy in an accessible tone of voice entices customers back, giving you the edge over your competitors.
Poor writing, on the other hand, causes real problems – weak websites go unnoticed, standoffish socials are ignored, lacklustre letters get binned. Ineffective writing chips away at goodwill and slowly damages your reputation, while costing you time, energy and ultimately money.
The Met Office tone of voice is based on three watchwords – clear, confident, inspiring – that I used as the foundation for its writing style guide. As a weather and climate science organisation, using these watchwords means:
Clear – “All our communications consider the customers’ needs and are written in plain English. The level of complexity is always proportional to the readers’ depth of knowledge.”
Confident – “We believe in the value of our products and services, and aim to present a modern organisation with science and creativity at its heart.”
Inspiring – “We aim to excite our readers by presenting ourselves and our arguments in a unique, relevant and interesting way. Balance is an essential aspect of our work: passion is important but so is knowing when to stop.”
