Tone of voice guidance

What do we mean by tone of voice? And how can we use it to its full effect? Simply put, tone of voice is not just what we say – it’s how we say it. The guidance in this section can help with this, showing you how to talk about Queen Mary in a clear, consistent and on-brand way.

Why tone of voice matters

Queen Mary has a unique history and identity which form the basis of our brand story. Our tone of voice should help our target audiences recognise and remember who we are and what we stand for, increasing awareness and building Queen Mary’s reputation.

Our guide is designed with this in mind, to equip you with the tools to write about and for Queen Mary with confidence, authority, simplicity, integrity and creativity.

How we talk to our audience

By following these golden rules, we help all of our communications remain consistent.

When you first mention Queen Mary in external facing communications, use the full title: Queen Mary University of London.
For following mentions, use Queen Mary, the University, us, we, our, etc. Do not use QM or QMU. Only use QMUL as a hashtag on social media such as YouTube, Twitter or Instagram.
For internal communications, it is fine to use Queen Mary from the first mention.
When referring specifically to our University, we use an upper-case ‘U’ eg ‘We are the only University in central London with a residential campus.’

Copywriting commandments

If you’re writing anything promotional, or anything that could be considered to fall under the umbrella of marketing material, there are rules that will help you — and your audience — get the most out of your content.

Lead with the benefit to the reader. The most important thing to consider is: What are your intended audience’s anxieties and motivations?
Address your reader directly, with lots of uses of ‘you’, ‘yours’ etc wherever appropriate
Writing a headline or header? People browse webpages in an F-shaped pattern, so the heading does a lot of heavy lifting. Points to consider are:

Use a number if you can. If you can start with a number, so much the better.
Ask a challenge question in the header where you can (e.g Ready for your next step?)
‘How to’ headers also work, as you’re framing the header - and the overall content - as advice.
If you include a CTA, make sure there’s urgency to it, that it’s concise, and uses accessible language (eg no “click here”).

Who is your audience?

We should bear in mind the above values while recognising that how we write for prospective students is different from how we write for a general external audience.

Take a look at some examples of targeted Queen Mary communications for specific audiences:

The Who’s who page on the External Relations staff intranet.
Queen Mary news stories and comment pieces are written for a general external audience.
Our Student life webpage has been written for prospective students.
Our Parents and carers webpage is designed for the parents and carers of prospective students.