Varieties of Tones

If you come from a culture in which written documents tend toward a frozen tone, be particularly careful with your business English. Consider the following continuum of appropriate usage:

Allow your purpose and your relationship with the reader to determine which of the levels you select. Equally important, be consistent in tone within your document. That is, don’t start out with a frozen tone and move to casual. Such a shift is inappropriate, and it is confusing to the reader. Be aware, however, that sometimes the boundaries are not completely clear; therefore, movement between formal and informal or between informal and casual is often hardly noticeable.