What Is Tone of Voice?

Tone of voice refers to the way someone speaks and is made up of several factors, including pace and pitch – all of which play a part in determining how a message is conveyed.

For example, an agent can be saying the exact same sentence to a customer, but the tone in which they say it can convey a multitude of meanings.

How Tone of Voice Works

Tone of voice (or melodic construct used in speech) is the melody used in our conversation and is a powerful yet subtle way of changing a conversation.

If a person is unaware of the use of melody in their voice, they can inadvertently come across as aggressive, weak, obscure, or passive (to name a few).

Changes in melodic tone used in dialogue alone can steer a conversation down a positive or negative path.

For example, if an agent speaks in a monotone (speech carried out on a single note), a customer could miss valuable information – because the agent hasn’t expressed enough variety of melodic notes to keep them engaged in what’s being said.

Equally, it’s easy for the agent to overcomplicate things and make it hard for a customer to keep up. It helps to think of the voice as an instrument – the music becomes more interesting when a series of notes are playing alongside each other. Speaking (talking in pitch) is musical.

Thanks to Clinton Jordan, The Motivational Vocal Coach

To read more about how tone of voice impacts customer service, read the article this was taken from: How to Utilize Tone of Voice in the Contact Centre