Written by Olga Procevska, co-founder of Writitude
While many brands choose friendly and easy-going tone, it is not suited for everybody.
Some industries and some occasions demand a strictly formal tone in writing that is not easy to master.
Here’s what you will find on this article:
- Formal tone in writing is clear, concise, and respectful, no slang or contractions.
- Legal communication, client reports and internal memos all benefit from formal tone.
- Luxury brands use formal tone for sophistication and exclusivity.
- Countries like Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, China value formality more than others.
- Create an automated style guide, train employees, review communications to maintain a formal tone consistently.
What Is a Formal Tone?
A formal tone in communication is characterized by clear, concise, and respectful language.
It avoids slang, contractions, and overly emotional expressions, opting instead for neutral and polite wording.
Formal communication is precise, avoiding unnecessary jargon or informal phrases that could confuse or alienate the reader.
Some key features of formal communication include:
- No contractions (e.g., "cannot" instead of "can’t").
- Polite requests rather than blunt commands (e.g., "Could you please..." instead of "Do this now").
- Clear structure and grammar, avoiding incomplete sentences or colloquial terms.
- Respectful language that avoids any discriminatory or offensive terms.
We will go through these details later, but let’s answer the big questions first.
Why Formal Tone Is Important for Companies?
1. Building Trust and Professionalism
In sectors where trust and expertise are critical, such as law, finance, and healthcare, adopting a formal tone is a signal of professionalism.
It shows that the company takes its communications seriously and values clarity and respect.
2. Maintaining Clarity and Precision
A formal tone helps eliminate ambiguity, ensuring that messages are straightforward and easy to understand.
Formal tone in writing avoids the casual shorthand that can lead to misunderstandings, especially in industries where legal, technical, or sensitive matters are being discussed.
3. Enhancing Brand Reputation
A consistent, formal tone reinforces the image of a brand that is reliable, professional, and respectful, which is especially important in some industries, such as medical services, legal services, hospitality and luxury goods.
There are situations where formal tone is essential and where using an less formal style of communication could lead you into trouble or can be perceived as inadequate by your audience.
These include:
Legal and Contractual Communication
Legal agreements must be precise and free of casual language to avoid misunderstandings.
A formal tone ensures that all terms are clearly understood and that both parties take the agreement seriously.
Client and Investor Reports
Communicating with clients or investors requires professionalism and precision. A formal tone demonstrates respect and attention to detail, critical in building confidence with these key stakeholders.
Customer Service in Sensitive Industries
In sectors like healthcare, finance, or insurance, formal communication conveys competence and respect, helping to de-escalate tense situations and maintain customer trust.
Internal Memos and Corporate Policies
When communicating important policies or instructions, a formal tone ensures that the message is clear, professional, and leaves no room for misinterpretation.
However, even genres where most usually informal tone is used, sometimes it makes sense to tone it up.
While most of blog posts are written in a rather friendly and approachable style, not all of them are.
If your blog posts have high education value and are written on subjects where precision is of outmost importance, a formal tone would be a better choice.
For example, one of the most important healthcare institutions in the US, the Mayo Clinic uses professional, clear and rather formal style in the "Health Library" section of their website.
In addition to that, some brands favor formal tone in all (or almost all) of their communication. Most notably, luxury brands opt for this strategy.
Why Luxury Brands Tend To Be Formal?
Luxury brands often employ a formal tone in their communications to reinforce their image of sophistication and exclusivity.
Formality for them is a deliberate strategy to convey a sense of grandeur and refinement.
The use of formal language helps to create a prestigious aura around the brand, appealing to discerning customers who value tradition, quality, and status.
The formal tone in luxury brand communications emphasizes precision and craftsmanship.
Terms such as "meticulous attention to detail" and "exquisite artistry" are commonly used to highlight the high level of skill and dedication involved in creating their products.
This can help brands set themselves apart from mass-market competitors. This section from the website of the Italian luxury brand Brunello Cucinelli is a great example.
Formal language is also employed to evoke a sense of heritage and timelessness. Luxury brands often use historical references or traditional terminology to connect with their audience on an emotional level.
Phrases like "a legacy of excellence" or "timeless elegance" serve to link the brand with a long-standing tradition of sophistication and exclusivity, which can be particularly appealing to customers who view luxury as a symbol of enduring value.
Moreover, a formal tone helps to cultivate an air of exclusivity and prestige.
By using sophisticated vocabulary and maintaining a polished, professional style, luxury brands create a barrier that emphasizes their high-status position in the market.
This formal approach aligns with the brand's high-end image and reinforces the perceived value of their products, making them more desirable to consumers who seek to distinguish themselves through their choices.
Outside corporate settings, diplomatic, government, and academic writing are most notably characterized by formal style and tone.
The tradition to write formally in these settings has developed over time to ensure professionalism, clarity, and precision of such texts.
These are the occasions where avoiding misunderstandings and upholding respect is one of the central demands of style and tone.
Which Countries Value Formality?
The expectation for a formal tone in emails also vary by country and cultural context, so regional dimension is an important factor to consider when defining your brand’s tone of voice.
There are several countries where formal communication is generally more expected in professional settings:
- Germany
- France
- Japan
- South Korea
- China
If you are not accustomed to the business culture of these countries, it’s easy to miss the mark even when writing a simple email.
What is regarded as perfectly fine and professional in the US, may sound intrusive or rude in Japan. To use the analogy, in these countries it is better to overdress than underdress.
Using a formal tone, even a very formal tone, is a safeguard that helps to establish credibility, demonstrate respect, and adhere to cultural norms.
How to Maintain a Formal Tone Across Communications?
If the industry, the genre of your texts or the geographical location of your business deals requires using strictly formal tone, you need to ensure consistency in your communication.
This can be achieved by:
- Creating a style guide that outlines acceptable language, tone, and style.
This guide serves as a reference point for all employees, providing clear examples and rules to follow. Regular updates to the style guide ensure it remains relevant and effective.
Make sure your communication guide is automated, because non-automated style and tone of voice guides are inefficient. Their static nature and lack of enforcement significantly increases the risk of deviation from brand standards.
- Training employees on formal communication practices, especially those in customer-facing or public relations roles.
Training sessions can include workshops, seminars, and role-playing exercises to help employees understand and apply formal communication techniques.
Providing ongoing training and resources ensures that employees stay proficient in maintaining the required tone.
- Reviewing all communications before publication to ensure they meet professional standards. This review process can involve multiple layers of oversight, including peer reviews, managerial approvals, and professional editing services.
Establishing a thorough review protocol helps catch any inconsistencies or errors, ensuring that all communications reflect the desired level of formality and professionalism.
How To Automate And Ensure Formal Tone In Your Communication
At Writitude, we have taken great care to ensure that all the essentials of formal style of writing are comprehensively addressed.
For brands offering medical services, legal services, working in hospitality, as well as luxury brands in all industries, we have developed an automated tone of voice guide entitled "Polite and dignified."
By creating a Writitude account, one may begin using this guide, and even our free “Basic” plan provides access to our pre-set tones.
_Within our “Polite and dignified” tone, there are 18 meticulously crafted rules, ranging from the prohibition of contractions to the elimination of any discriminatory and unrespectful language.
However, this is merely the beginning; one may personalize their friendly tone of voice by incorporating their own brand glossaries or specific tone and style rules to render it uniquely theirs.
These customizations allow for the exclusion of specific words that may not resonate with the audience or the inclusion of essential keywords that must appear in the copy.
For those who wish to share their tone guide with copywriters or other team members, an upgrade to the Premium plan is available.
This upgrade also unlocks the capability to create drafts using AI in your custom tone. With this approach, one can ensure that the brand’s messaging remains consistent with its unique voice and values.
We invite you to explore Writitude at your convenience. Thank you for considering our services._
P.S. The last section of this blog post was written using Writitude Premium account that generated an AI draft in the tone "Polite and dignified."
