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Keep Everyone on the Same Page
Create a style guide that gives every writer in your
company a set of standards to follow. Why?
Everyone's writing differs in style, tone, format, and
even choice of grammar, punctuation, and usage. A
style guide fosters consistency; streamlines the
writing, proofreading, and editing processes; and
serves as a primary resource with proven, effective
writing tools and techniques. Most important, a style
guide ensures that any document from your company
reflects the professional standards you want to project
to your readers.
Numerous writing resources are available online and
in books; however, you can create one comprising
your company's specific preferences for internally
produced documents. Listed below are sample
topics and examples of guidelines you may want
writers to follow:
- Organization: refer to it only by the company name
or
as the firm, the company, or the organization;
note what terms, if any, can be used
interchangeably
- People who work for the company: identify as
employees, associates, staff, or
team members
- Readers: address in the second person
(you) or third person (patient, applicant,
student)
- Writers: reference in the first person (I, we)
or in the company's name (Kelly's)
- Language: use preferred words
(affect instead of impact),
company-specific or unique terms, abbreviations, or
acronyms
| Grammar, Usage, and
Spelling |
- Verb tense: use present (applicant
completes) instead of future (applicant will
complete)
- Voice: write primarily in the active voice (Jill
wrote the
report); limit using the passive voice (the report
was
written by Jill)
- Spelling: note any non-standard words (Brite
White) or capitalization (Client, Account
Representative)
- Commas: use the serial comma, the
last comma before and with two or more items
in a series (wine, cheese, and grapes)
- Spacing: type one space after end punctuation,
no
space on either side of dashes
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- Font style and size
- Header and footer content
- Special treatments such as bold or italics
- Bulleted or numbered lists
- Company logo size and placement
- Color schemes
If you need help with creating your guide or just want
to brainstorm some ideas, please contact me at ilana@ima-associates.com for a free
20-minute consultation to
get you started.
Ilana
Did you know...
You can find our archived newsletters at
www.ima-associates.com?
They may give you additional ideas for your style
guide. You may also want to check if you missed or
want to review any of them.
Thank you for sharing them with your colleagues,
friends, and family members. Keep it up!
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Ilana G. Traverse, Principal
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