For agencies
Find your voice

With tone of voice &
your style guide

From IKEA to Netflix to innocent – each of these companies has its own unique personality and communicates its brand identity with every word. Do you want that too? Then you need a tone of voice.

Birgit Spalt-Zoidl und eine Kundin blicken lächelnd auf den Laptop
Button that reads "Yes, please!" and leads to the contact page.
Button that reads "Yes, please!" and leads to the contact page.
Birgit Spalt-Zoidl sitzt lächelnd auf einer Couch und schreibt in ein oranges Notizbuch.

Words determine how you’re perceived

Language is a mighty tool. The right words can be extremely powerful – and can make the difference between “I like you” or “get away from me”, between “I’ll shop here” or “let’s keep looking”. But how can you reach your target audience with the written word?

It’s simple: By showing your personality.

Large companies understand that a unique brand identity is worth its weight in gold, and they achieve this in large part with the help of style guides – and the results speak for themselves. So why do small businesses and solopreneurs pay so little attention to this topic? 

Tone of voice in practice

Maybe it’s because they don’t quite understand what a tone of voice is, exactly. Here are a few examples that can help clear things up: In short, the tone of voice (often abbreviated ToV) is a company’s personality – all laid out in a style guide.

Mara’s tone of voice

Hi, I’m Mara and I absolutely ADORE photography! I discovered its joys when I got my first camera at the age of 12, and it’s been my passion ever since – which is why I decided to make it my career!

Mara – freelance photographer
• Shares a lot of personal details from her everyday life
• Likes to be a bit cheeky
• Customer-focussed and creative

Eine Frau mit schwarzen Locken hält eine Vintage-Kamera hoch und lacht fröhlich in die Kamera.

Dr. Maier’s tone of voice

Welcome to my practice in the heart of Salzburg’s old town. Together with my assistants Samira and Gerhard, I’ve been helping patients of all ages since starting this practice five years ago. If you have any medical questions, I’ll be happy to offer my professional advice.

Dr. Maier – General practitioner
• Kind yet professional
• Uses cordial, open communication to come across as approachable and inspire trust
• Friendly and helpful

Mann mit schwarzem Haar und Dreitagebart lächelt freundlich in die Kamera; er trägt einen Arztkittel und ein Stetoskop um den Hals.

FinTeC’s tone of voice

FinTeC is your partner for financial services. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2012, FinTeC is the fintech market leader. Thousands of financial service providers rely on our agile, state-of-the-art tools and use them to achieve their goals.

Fintech company
• All business
• Demonstrates expertise to show that customers are in good hands
• Formal and focused on the essentials

Blonde Frau im grauen Blazer mit verschränkten Armen und einem leichten Lächeln auf dem Gesicht.
Clear communication. Always.

With a style guide, you can ...

confidently show
your personality

In order to create a distinctive brand identity and set yourself apart from the competition.

write better texts
more quickly

More efficient, error-free copywriting with a clearly defined style.

achieve
consistency

Even if different employees and external partners work on your texts.

As unique as you are

Your brand. Your style.
Your voice.

One thing I know for certain: Everyone struggles with something when it comes to writing – some of us get lost in the details while others think everything sounds too much like marketing. Personally, I hate commas. And that’s fine! Nobody’s perfect. 😉

That’s what your personal style guide is for! I make sure that everything I write is tailored to you and your company. Your style guide is a living manifestation of what your voice sounds like in action, it includes examples of various scenarios that make sense for your business, and it focuses on areas where you need the most support.

Ein Stapel Bücher, wovon das oberste den Titel "Style Guide" trägt.
I want that
Mix and Match

Possible content for your style guide

Of course, we’ll determine individually what exactly your style guide needs to cover – but the following four categories are always a good idea:

What’ll it
be?

Gender-neutral & inclusive language

oeffnen
Which terms and phrases should you avoid and how can you make sure everyone feels included?

Tone of voice –
your linguistic identity

oeffnen
How can you use the right words to establish a positive association with your company in the customer’s mind?

Grammar &
formalities

oeffnen
Which common mistakes should you be sure to avoid in your writing to make a good impression?

Glossary &
term definitions

oeffnen
Which terms should always be used the same way in your company? How are they defined? How are they translated?
From A to Z

The path to your tone of voice & style guide

The path to your tone of
voice & style guide

Questionnaire & first meeting

First, I’ll need to learn more about you and your company to understand your unique brand identity and create your own personal style guide. With my questionnaire and an initial meeting, we can get to know one another and discuss the scope and content of your style guide.

Creating the style guide

After that, I start planning your style guide, finding examples for all the rules that are relevant to your work, and preparing all of the information so that your copywriters can find it at a glance. When I’m finished, I send you the first draft.

Feedback & delivery

When you’ve had time to read through the first draft of your style guide, you have a chance to ask me any questions you may have and choose the best wording if I’ve offered you several options. Once everything has been discussed and all changes have been implemented, I send you the final version of your style guide in an attractive and – most importantly – clearly structured design so you can print it out or use and share it digitally. Enjoy!

Questionnaire & first meeting

First, I’ll need to learn more about you and your company to understand your unique brand identity and create your own personal style guide. With my questionnaire and an initial meeting, we can get to know one another and discuss the scope and content of your style guide.

Creating the style guide

After that, I start planning your style guide, finding examples for all the rules that are relevant to your work, and preparing all of the information so that your copywriters can find it at a glance. When I’m finished, I send you the first draft.

Feedback & delivery

When you’ve had time to read through the first draft of your style guide, you have a chance to ask me any questions you may have and choose the best wording if I’ve offered you several options. Once everything has been discussed and all changes have been implemented, I send you the final version of your style guide in an attractive and – most importantly – clearly structured design so you can print it out or use and share it digitally. Enjoy!
I want a style guide
Ein Kunde zeigt Birgit Spalt-Zoidl etwas auf dem Laptop
Ein Kunde zeigt Birgit Spalt-Zoidl etwas auf dem Laptop

Happy clients,
happy me!

Client feedback

Thank you so much for the articles, and for all the comments and suggestions. Even if the client won’t take them on, I think it’s absolutely fantastic that you go out of your way to provide them for the client’s benefit and to improve their content.
Francisco P.Project Manager, MANAGED Language
<b>Francisco P.</b>
Whether it’s defining my tone of voice or putting the finishing touch on my website and blog texts: Birgit is able to make my texts sound like me without losing sight of the end goal. Every time we work together, I learn something new – which makes it easier for me to write clearly and with confidence.
Kerstin E.Brand Designer, Kerstin Ebner Grafik
<b>Kerstin E.</b>
After many years of working together to copywrite my website and social media texts, Birgit knows my voice better than I do at this point – as a result, my personal style guide saves me lots of time whenever I need to write something for myself.
Patrick H.Photographer, Smartshots
<b>Patrick H.</b>
Working with Birgit is truly a pleasure. Her creativity shines through as she expertly tailors our copy to the local market, ensuring that our brand's Tone of Voice is perfectly captured. She's truly exceptional at what she does, and we're looking forward to continuing our collaboration.
Emil A.Head of Marketing, Findity
<b>Emil A.</b>
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Other services

I have even more to offer you

Transcreation & translation

Want to tap into a new market? Great! I’m happy to help you localise your content into German while making sure that the translated text has the same impact as the original.

Find out more

Copywriting & content creation

If you’re tired of writing your own copy, I’d be happy to do it for you – your blog articles, social media posts, newsletters, website texts and more are in good hands with me.

Find out more

Got questions or want to work with me?

Get in touch
Birgit Spalt-Zoidl lächelt freundlich in die Kamera.
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