How do you adjust your tone for different stakeholders?

1 Why tone matters

Tone is the attitude or emotion that you convey through your words, voice, and body language. It can affect how your message is received, understood, and acted upon by your stakeholders. Tone can also reflect your level of professionalism, confidence, and respect. Therefore, choosing the right tone for different stakeholders can help you achieve your communication goals, such as informing, persuading, motivating, or resolving conflicts.

2 How to identify your stakeholders

Before you can adjust your tone, you need to know who your stakeholders are and what they care about. Stakeholders are any individuals or groups who have an interest or influence in your project, organization, or issue. You can use a stakeholder analysis technique to identify and categorize your stakeholders based on their power, interest, attitude, and expectations. This will help you prioritize and tailor your communication to the most important and relevant stakeholders.

3 How to adapt your tone to different stakeholder types

Once you have identified your stakeholders, you can use some general guidelines to adapt your tone to different stakeholder types. For instance, when addressing high-power, high-interest stakeholders, such as senior managers or key clients, you should use a formal and respectful tone while emphasizing the benefits and outcomes of your message. When communicating with low-power, high-interest stakeholders, like team members or colleagues, it is best to be friendly and supportive while acknowledging their contributions and feedback. If you are speaking to high-power, low-interest stakeholders like regulators or media, you should use a polite and professional tone while highlighting the credibility and relevance of your message. Finally, for low-power, low-interest stakeholders like the general public or suppliers, it is best to be simple and clear while explaining the purpose and context of your message. Additionally, stories and visuals can help capture their attention.

4 How to adjust your tone for different communication channels

The communication channel you use to deliver your message can also affect your tone. Different channels have advantages and disadvantages, such as speed, reach, feedback, and non-verbal cues. Therefore, you should adjust your tone for different communication channels to suit your communication objectives and stakeholder preferences. For instance, when engaging in face-to-face communication like meetings or presentations, you can use a more expressive and dynamic tone. You can also use voice, eye contact, gestures, and facial expressions to emphasize your tone and express emotions. Written communication such as emails or reports require a more precise and structured tone. Punctuation, formatting, and word choice can help convey your tone and prevent misunderstandings. Digital communication like social media or webinars should have a more casual and interactive tone. Emojis, images, videos, and hashtags can be used to convey your tone and engage with the audience.

5 How to get feedback on your tone

Finally, one of the best ways to improve your tone is to get feedback from your stakeholders or other sources. This can help you evaluate the effectiveness of your tone, identify areas for improvement, and learn from best practices. You can ask for direct feedback from stakeholders, such as surveys, polls, or questions. Observe reactions and responses, such as body language, comments, or actions. Additionally, compare your tone with others who communicate well with your stakeholders, such as mentors, peers, or experts. Analyze their word choice, voice modulation, or non-verbal cues and apply them to your own communication style.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?