Rands has written a really interesting post all about cadence, and more specifically how the tone of language used on the Web has a direct impact on our trust.

What does a lie sound like? How do we decide to trust? There’s a reason why you can figure out in an instant whether a mail is spam or not. It’s not a single, measurable thing, but a whole set of small, invisible variables with which you can instantly make a judgment — I do not trust this mail.

You have a complex set of analytical mental muscles that help you make critical snap emotional judgments. Whether it’s a mail, a website, or a person, your brain can instantly look at 12 imperceptible aspects of a thing to determine how you should feel.

Truth, love, or lies, human has a signature cadence.

I always place a lot of emphasis on spending time developing the language of a website – the words used aren’t incidental: the language and tone should be an integral part of the design.