“Set the tone Have you ever wondered how many conflicts between people (and maybe even nations) are caused not by ideas, but, rather, by the tone of voice with which a particular message is conveyed? In verbal communication, the tone of the voice is very important – it affects how people respond to us, and how we instinctively react to them. As philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said: “We often refuse to accept an idea merely because the tone of voice in which it has been expressed is unsympathetic to us.”