Personality, Voice & Tone
We share our personality, defined by set of characteristics, with audiences through our voice and tone.
Our voice is consistent while our tone has a range. Audience and communication goals should determine the right mix of UND personality traits to emphasize.
Brand Personality
These six adjectives make up who we are as UND.
Committed
We are hardworking and embrace the evolving world around us. We persevere when faced with challenges and believe in doing, not just talking about doing.
Proud
We are close-knit and passionate. We embrace our UND community and celebrate our achievements as a team.
Approachable
We are genuine, welcoming and supportive of all people and cultures. We help those with a desire to learn and make a positive impact.
Practical
We are down-to-earth and realistic in how we go about our business. We are reliable and determined to make an impact on our community, state and the world.
Innovative
We are intellectually curious, unafraid to question how things are done. When we see a problem, we fix it with smart thinking and decisive action.
Bold
We were founded on a bold vision and a resiliency that defied all odds, characteristics that remain in all of us to this day. We thrive on inquiry and creativity — able to overcome any obstacle.
Brand Voice
- Always proud, open and honest.
- Empowering to our students, faculty and staff.
- Intentional and direct, using an active tone and unpretentious language.
- Positive to communicate our impact and convey opportunity and confidence.
- Straightforward, using proof points and statistics to prove our commitment to hard work, positive impacts and the future.
- Packed with action verbs and powerful language to reflect our determined culture.
- Concise, featuring digestible content, particularly for online and social media posts.
Do
- Be descriptive yet concise.
- Be conversational, personal and relatable to the audience.
- Use personal stories about students, alumni, faculty and staff to communicate the UND experience.
- Demonstrate that we understand and care about each group’s different wants and needs.
- Be inclusive and celebrate diverse perspectives, peoples and ideas.
- Complicated, confusing or featuring overly technical language.
- Forced, feigned or overly excited.
- Trying to be something we are not. We avoid passive phrases such as “we will” or “we’re going to.”
- Packed with clichés or “fluffy” language.
- Clouded with sales-speak, long-winded passages of text or verbose content.
Don't
- Let our pride for UND come across as arrogance by using too many superlatives.
- Use UND lingo and insider references when communicating with audiences who are not deeply connected with the community.
- Use long words or phrases when shorter ones will work just as well.
- Speak down to an audience.
Brand Tone
Our tone reflects our brand personality and voice. It is how we choose to communicate with our audiences, including the choice of words, communication style and emotional tone. Just like an individual adjusts their tone based on the situation, our tone also has a range. The range allows our tone to vary depending on the audience, media, and overall communication goal.
For more direction on how to use our brand tones, complete brand training.
| Tones: | Core | Casual | Vibrant | Formal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlighted Personality Traits |
Committed Innovative Practical |
Approachable Bold Innovative |
Approachable Bold Proud |
Committed Practical Proud |
| Messaging Feels |
Official Professional Straightforward |
Friendly Relatable Relaxed |
Dynamic Lively Playful |
Ceremonial Refined Traditional |
| Examples |
Event Promotions Templates General Forms Unit Communications |
Event Promotions Student & Unit Communications
|
Event Promotions Student & Unit Communications |
Ceremony Programs Formal Invites Executive Forms Presidential or Timeless Communications |