Why “tone” is important:
Tone = Framing
Framing is in its essentials a way of choosing the right words, the “tone” to convey your point in a way that will convince people to agree with you.
One of the key things I want my writing students to come away from my class with is the importance of using their prose to tune the mood of the piece to match the message. This translates directly from fiction into politics or any other place where convincing the reader or listener is important. If I say something so rudely that I cause my allies to walk away, I’ve made a substantial mistake. If one looks at history one can see all too many examples of alliances broken by tone.
So, if you don’t care about tone, you don’t care about winning.
More on the flip
Talk to any professional writer or any professional salesman and you will get a further earful on the importance of tone to making your case.
Tone is the difference between making the sale and making an enemy.
Tone is the difference between “blame game,” and “accountability.”
Tone is “STFU” vs, “please be quiet”
Tone is “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” vs. “things were mixed.”
Tone is “Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this our sun of York,” vs “My brother’s victory made me feel good.”
Bill Clinton is a master of tone. John Kerry is not. The results are obvious.
