# Writing a brand voice guide your whole team can use

> A brand voice guide helps everyone write like the same company. Here is how to define your voice with principles and real examples.

Web page: https://oravol.com/insights/writing-a-brand-voice-guide

## About this article

- **Published:** 4 October 2026
- **Topic:** Branding & Design
- **Publisher:** ORAVOL

## Key takeaways

- Define three or four voice principles, each with a 'this, not that' example.
- Voice stays the same; tone adapts to the situation.
- Include a word list and real before-and-after rewrites.

## Article

Your website, emails, social posts and support replies are probably written by several people. Without shared guidance, they sound like several companies. A voice guide fixes that with a few clear principles and plenty of examples.

### Start from your brand, not adjectives

Look at your positioning: who you serve, what you promise and what makes you different. Your voice should express that. A specialist firm serving engineers will sound different from a café, even if both want to be "friendly and professional".

### Define three or four principles

Each principle needs a short explanation and a "this, not that" pair. For example:

- **Clear, not clever.** We explain things in plain words. *"We'll send your quote within two working days"*, not *"Expect our numbers to land in your inbox at lightning speed."*
- **Confident, not boastful.** We say what we do well and show proof. We avoid superlatives we can't back up.
- **Warm, not casual.** We are polite and human, without slang that might not travel across cultures.

### Explain how tone adapts

Your voice stays constant, but tone shifts with the situation. Describe a few contexts:

- Marketing and launches: more energy
- Support and complaints: calm and reassuring
- Legal and billing: precise and neutral

### Build a word list

List preferred terms and words to avoid. Include product names and how to write them, terms customers use for your services, and jargon that needs explaining. Decide on spelling conventions and stick to them.

### Show real rewrites

The most useful part of any voice guide is examples. Take real sentences from your website, emails and posts, and show the rewritten version next to the original, with a note on what changed.

### Make it easy to use

Keep the guide short enough to read in fifteen minutes. Put it where people write, and add a short checklist for proofreading.

Voice work often accompanies a [brand identity](https://oravol.com/services/brand-identity-design) project, and our [content and copywriting](https://oravol.com/services/content-copywriting) team uses the guide to write your website and campaigns.

## Questions

### What is the difference between voice and tone?

Voice is your consistent personality. Tone is how that personality adjusts to context, more reassuring in a complaint reply and more energetic in a launch post.

### Who should write the voice guide?

Someone who writes well and understands the brand, with input from people who talk to customers every day.