Can Writing Tech Help You Craft Your Tone?

Oh, technology. As much as you frustrate us, you sure make things interesting. 

While I wasn’t looking, a slew of new writing technologies emerged on the scene. And three of them really caught my eye. I’ve been experimenting with each. And at the least, they are worth a gander. 

First, QuillBot’s Paraphraser. Have you ever needed to paraphrase a quote and just not had the energy to do it well? Enter the Paraphraser. This tool automatically rewrites quoted passages. You can even use it to auto-summarize long snippets (with surprising accuracy). A menu of customization options allows you to tweak the paraphrase, including its tone. 

You might need to do some editing after. But this little tool can give you some great ideas for rewriting a sentence.

Next, try Wordtune for help hitting that perfect tone. Deep AI (machine learning, neural networks, and big data sets) have transformed quite a lot. But the potential for language processing may be one of the most exciting areas to watch. 

A new AI-driven tool, Wordtune is a fascinating example of how AI could change how we communicate. The tool uses some impressive back-end tech to subtly tweak your words to get your message and tone just right.

Tune your writing for each audience: Client, judge, or colleague. Make your point more casual, more formal, shortened, or longer. 

Wordtune can be a great way to get inspiration for your next legal writing project. It also offers a deep library of example phrases to compare your writing to others. Check out Wordtune. 

Finally, most of us are endless-email machines. Email automation (whether it be templates, editing programs, or full-on email generators) are among the most powerful time-saving devices for legal folks. If you pay attention, I bet you’ll find that many of your emails are repetitive. At the least, they include repetitive parts. You can save so much time and angst with smart email programs.

The simplest tool is a template. If you use Gmail, templates are already built into professional plans. Save any email as a template and paste it into any new message with a click. Add-ons will do the same thing for Outlook and other platforms. 

If you’re feeling more adventurous, a neat new tool worth checking out is OthersideAI. It’s in a class of tools that help clean up short-hand notes or rough drafts and turn them into great prose. 

This particular tool allows you to insert some bullet points or notes. It then drafts an impressively professional email in moments.  Check out OthersideAI. 

Joe Regalia is a law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law and regularly leads workshops training legal writing and technology. The views he expresses here are solely his own and not intended to be legal advice. Check out his other articles and writing tips here.