Adjusting the Tone of Voice for Document Agents

This article explains the tone of voice configuration for Document Agents in the Admin Center.

Overview

Setting up a tone of voice allows you to specify brand-compliant language during presentation/slide creation using the Document Agent.

Why does the tone of voice matter?

In instructing AI models, the tone of voice matters to companies, because the wording of the output can significantly differ depending on context given in a prompt. Tone of Voice reflects your organization's character in written and spoken communication. Setting the tone of voice centrally ensures that the GenAI outputs stay consistent with your brand and preferred style of writing.

How to adjust the tone of voice

The default tone of voice used by Document Agents will be the one configured for the AI Assistant within your tenant.

1. Within the Admin Center, click on the AI Agents section.
2. Click on the three-dot ellipsis icon of a configured agent, and select Edit.
3. Under Configuration, click on Tone of voice.
4. To make changes, click on Custom:
   • Specific language descriptors can be chosen to match or avoid.
   • Tone of voice can also be updated as custom text, by toggling Write instructions, to match existing brand messaging.
5. Click Save and Save changes.

Tone of voice best practices

Many organizations have long, detailed tone of voice guidelines as part of their brand identity. While these can be useful for humans to reference, LLMs generally need much more concise instructions. The following tips should be kept in mind when writing the tone of voice for your Document Agents.

1. Start with the purpose of the tone. 
   LLMs respond well when you specify why the tone exists, and it can base decisions off of this brief purpose statement.

Example "Write in a tone that feels human, builds trust, and helps readers understand complex topics quickly."

2. Summarize long guidelines into 3-6 core behaviors.
   When summarizing long tone of voice guidelines, try to avoid compressing everything equally. Instead, extract the most important behaviors that actually change the writing. This also can include your brand's distinct or signature details. For example:
   • Sentence structure (long, short, varied?).
   • Level of formality.
   • Attitude.
   • Use of jargon.
   • Use of humor.
   • Perspective (first person, second person?).
   • What to avoid. 
3. Use observable language.
   LLMs struggle with vague marketing terms. Instead, use actionable instructions. Especially when summarizing tone of voice guidelines, ensure high-level values are rephrased into executable writing behaviors. Avoid abstract ideas like "authentic", "bold", "delightful", etc. 
4. Tell the LLM what to prioritize
   LLMs can sometimes focus in on one element, so if your brand has a hierarchy of what to prioritize, specify this. 

Example "Clarity comes first, friendliness is second, and humor can be used lightly unless explaining something complex."

5. Avoid overloading with too many rules
   Each rule given to a LLM dilutes the others. This means that LLMs are much more likely to follow a few very clear lines of instruction than they are to follow a 2+ page tone of voice statement.