When speaking with others, your tone clarifies and conveys meaning. A phrase as simple as “I don’t know” can be taken in a number of different ways depending on how you decide to express it. Your tone can not only affect how people perceive you but also their willingness to listen to you – especially in the workplace.

Style means the mechanical or technical aspects of writing and may be specific to the requirements of the subject or topic. Voice means the unique worldview and word choices of the author. Tone means the attitude conveyed in the writing and may encompass formality, objectivity, intimacy, and similar aspects.

Style gives your writing a type of personality when coupled together with tone. As with the audience and format, it’s important that the style you choose matches with the intended purpose of your message. Similar in some ways to style, tone refers to the feeling your audience will get when they decode your document.

Style refers to the writer’s choice of diction, sentence structure, literary techniques, and use of rhythm. Tone, on the other hand, refers to the writer’s attitude toward his/her story and to the reader. The writer’s tone assists in creating a mood or atmosphere for the story.

The overall tone of a written message affects the reader just as one’s tone of voice affects the listener in everyday exchanges” (Ober 88). Tone is present in all communication activities. Ultimately, the tone of a message is a reflection of the writer and it does affect how the reader will perceive the message.

It’s because your tone of voice encompasses your words. Your tone of voice focuses on how you speak and the ensuing impression words make on everyone around you. Think of your tone of voice like a personalized vocal “fingerprint” that distinguishes who you are and can tell others so much about you.

A tone of voice can convey disgust, disrespect, contempt, rejection, dismissal or indifference. These disconnecting moments have a lot to do with why there is a lack of intimacy, sex and fun in a relationship! Some people cannot tolerate listening and responding to comments about their tone of voice… at all.

A disrespectful tone of voice is one that makes the speaker feel superior to another. It is a trait that displays an insolent attitude and haughtiness. You will recognize it immediately, especially if it is directed towards you. Ask a disrespectful person a question and they will reply with sarcasm or rudeness.

The tone in a story indicates a particular feeling. It can be joyful, serious, humorous, sad, threatening, formal, informal, pessimistic, and optimistic. Your tone in writing will be reflective of your mood as you are writing.

List of Detailed Tone Descriptors

• Authoritative.
• Caring.
• Cheerful.
• Coarse.
• Conservative.
• Conversational.
• Casual.
• Dry.

Some basic singer’s exercises can give you better pitch control and improve the resonance of your voice. Humming at different pitches is a good warm up exercise. Start with a low pitch, feeling the vibrations low in your chest. Then raise the pitch, feeling the vibrations rise higher in your chest.

It’s the way in which we communicate our personality. Tone of voice is the way we tell our users how we feel about our message, and it will influence how they’ll feel about our message, too. Despite the importance of tone, advice about it tends to be vague: “Be consistent. Be authentic. Be unique.”

Reference For Writers

• Adenoidal/Nasal – Some of the sound seems to come through the nose.
• Appealing – Shows that you want help, approval, or agreement.
• Breathy – With loud breathing noises.
• Brittle – You sound as if you are about to cry.
• Croaky – Sounds as if they have a sore throat.
• Dead – They feel or show no emotion.

To improve your singing and your tone, it’s a great idea to practice both your head voice and your chest voice, and be able to recognize when each is best to use – low and mid-range notes are often more comfortably sung in chest voice, while high notes require use of your head voice.

Voice training exercises

1. Yawn. Yawning will help stretch and open the mouth and throat, as well as relieve tension from the neck and diaphragm.
2. Cough slightly.
3. Make slight lip vibration.
4. Tighten all your muscles to teach your body to relax while singing.
5. Singing with a closed mouth is another way to warm up your voice.

It is both. Certainly there are some singers who have a naturally gifted voice, but anyone can learn to sing well, and even gifted singers still have to work to become great.

“The quality of the voice is dependent on many factors; however, barring a physical vocal disability, everyone can learn to sing well enough to sing basic songs.” “Many people who have difficulty singing are trying to sing with their talking voices—the voice they are used to using,” says Rutkowski.