How do I create a tone of voice for my brand?

If you Google "how to create a brand tone of voice," you'll get advice like "list 3-5 adjectives that describe your brand personality." That advice is technically correct and practically useless.

Why adjective lists fail

Every brand picks some version of: confident, approachable, innovative, authentic, bold. These words describe 10,000 brands simultaneously. They're not wrong — they're just not specific enough to produce distinctive copy.

Try telling a writer to "sound confident and approachable." Then ask a different writer to do the same. You'll get two completely different outputs. The adjectives aren't anchoring anything.

The voice recipe approach

Instead of adjectives, use references. Real people, real brands, real cultural moments that capture the energy you want:

1. Pick voice anchors — 2-3 references that resonate: a celebrity's directness, a brand's wit, a cultural vibe 2. Define anti-patterns — what you refuse to sound like (corporate, salesy, overly playful) 3. Synthesize into one sentence — blend them with your industry and a specific quirk

The output: "Jerry Seinfeld's observational sharpness meets Glossier's effortlessness, but for cybersecurity — and weirdly honest about how boring security audits are."

Why this works

References are concrete. When a writer (or AI tool) sees "Jerry Seinfeld's observational sharpness," they know the rhythm, the sentence length, the comedic timing. When they see "confident," they know nothing actionable.

Your tone of voice isn't a list of adjectives. It's a recipe.