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Is respectful language on your radar during policy review? All articles in this blog are available for use under...

We react against aggressive rules instinctively, but do we know why? In this example, courtesy of the City of Ottawa,...

"May" is one of the most ambiguous terms used in policy documents. Take the "may" challenge and look at how...

People reach for "must" to show that a particular condition is invariable, but that "must" only makes the statement sound...

After police officers stop a speeding car, they question the driver and usually issue a ticket. But if the officer...

SMS messages are always tricky because of the character limit. You try to strike a balance between brevity and clarity,...

One way to improve the tone of voice of your instructions is to switch from a directive approach to a...

Software instructions have a tone of voice, too. Here's an example from a popular anti-virus software package. A notification starts...

All articles in this blog are available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.