Your voice is your spoken personality, your story to tell.

It’s what you use to capture an audience, whether that be aloud or in writing.

Your tone of voice is a subset of your voice. Tone conveys the mood or attitude of your voice. It’s what makes your voice mean more than words.

Tone can vary, and different tones can be used simultaneously, too.

It’s important to choose your tone to not only help get your point across but to also make your audience want to listen.

There are lots of different kinds of tones, but most can be narrowed down to the primary 11: neutral, impersonating, purposeful, sensual, simple, playful, straight-talking, storytelling, aggressive, warm, and energizing.

In any conversation, on any platform, or in any means of using your voice, you should carefully consider which tone you choose to display.

Thinking before you speak means considering more than the words you plan to use.

A neutral voice is usually calm and conveys information without evoking emotions. News articles and informational pieces often use a neutral tone of voice. It is clear, concise, and can be easily understood by the masses.

Impersonator is exactly as it sounds: using your voice to impersonate someone or something. Using this tone to mimic can have good and bad undertones. It can be helpful to explain a situation, like “This is how they said this.” But, it can also be used harshly, like a bully in a schoolyard. And, sometimes, there’s a very thin line between the two.

Purposeful is another self-explanatory tone. It’s what your boss might use to encourage employees to get work done. Purposeful gives more rational meaning than emotional.

Sensualist tones are most often associated with femme fatales and bombshells, characters who deliberately sound seductive. Studies have shown that certain octaves and talking speeds that can attract a partner are what is considered a sensual tone.

Using plain language is using a simplified tone. As an example, simple tones can be seen in small talk. It keeps things casual, floating on the service, and precise for all parties to understand.

Being humorous is the best way to communicate playfully. A playful tone of voice is common among friends, but it can also help you connect with others through entertaining, relatability, and connecting on an emotional level. There’s no judgment in a truly playful tone.

A straight-talker is right to the point. It’s a blunt tone that shows there’s no need for messing around or dancing around subjects. Straight-talking can be authoritative, as well. When there’s a job to be done or a deadline to meet, a straight-talker won’t use excuses or allow others to. Sentences will be short, direct, and honest.

Storytellers add depth and emotion to what they are saying. Their tone works to make the audience feel something and to be immersed in the story they tell. Storytelling can showcase other tones, like using a playful tone in a cheery story or impersonating when creating character voices.

A tone bringing forcefulness, confrontation, and disrespect is aggressive. It’s the tone that can hinder effective communication the most. When being aggressive, there’s no invitation to join the conversation. It shows minimal care in what others have to say. It’s also a tone that can quickly change someone else’s tone to match the aggression. It’s not a tone that assembles a lot of achievement.

A warm — or sometimes considered soft — tone is somewhat of an opposite of aggression. It tells your audience that you care what they have to say, as well. Soft tone is a powerful tool of communication as it draws people in and plays toward their emotions. Adding to that, it helps mold a safe or intimate space.

Lastly, energize is a tone that evokes excitement and inspiration. In text, it’s often seen with an exclamation point to really highlight what you’re trying to say. The tone is very optimistic and hopeful, like a coach encouraging the team to win.

With so many tones, there are plenty of ways to say what you want to say.

And, despite what might feel right for you in the moment, the tone of voice you use should be based more on the audience or the goal in mind.

So, when you think before you speak and you’re considering the words you want to say, be mindful of the tone(s) you plan to use to voice your words.

It might just improve the outcome you’re searching for.

Torianna Marasco can be reached at 989-358-5686 or tmarasco@thealpenanews.com.