Voice and Tone
Voice and tone refer to how we deliver our message, giving Clark an identifiable and ownable manner of speaking.
What is the goal of your communications?
Are you guiding readers through an administrative process? Are you explaining details about a new discovery made by researchers at Clark? The voice and tone will shape how readers think, feel, say, about your topic and how they act as a result.
Who is your primary audience?
Clark audiences might include prospective students and the people who influence their decision making; internal audiences of faculty, staff, and students; alumni donors and foundations; and peers, media, and corporate partners. To connect effectively with our audiences our content should align with their goals, questions, strengths, and challenges.
A unified voice for Clark
When crafting communications, speak with a voice that reflects Clarkie traits. These traits will help shape the voice and personality of your content. When we write:
We are optimistic.
It takes a hopeful and confident stance towards the future to prepare students to contribute to the world, conduct original research, or bring a piece of creative work into being. We want our audience to feel inspired as they read.
We are unconventional.
Clarkies think a little differently. We don’t want to fall back on standard approaches to telling our story. It’s OK to give your readers something unexpected.
We are authentic.
Clark is place where it’s OK to be yourself and we want our communications to reflect the natural, down to earth culture of our community.
We are compassionate.
We are inclusive towards readers whose first language is not English or who have a different cultural or educational background than our own. We engage our audience with content that matters to them and work to ensure that our communications is accessible to everyone.
We are introspective.
We aim to empower our audience by thinking deeply about what information is most valuable to them.