When clients ask us to streamline their communication, we begin with a simple, fundamental step: get the style guide going.
Here, we introduce you to this essential document and explain why you need it.
What’s a style guide?
A style guide is the Bible for your company’s communication. It tells you the style to follow for your text (and often even design), just as a fashion style guide tells you the colours to combine, the accessories to use with outfits and how to step out looking your best.
Newspapers and magazines have their own style guides, which define how they write and format text. (Read this Wikipedia note to know more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Style_guide)
Why use it?
Every time you go to your favourite restaurant, don’t you expect them to get your favourite dish right? The colour, the flavour and serving size all have to be consistent time and again. Never mind if they have a new chef or they buy a different brand of ingredients.
It’s the same with your communication. It has to appear consistent, no matter which member of your team comes up with the core idea. A style guide is really handy when:
- You have new members joining your team.
- You work with different agencies.
- There are internal debates about how to use a word right. Is it e-mail or email?
The style guide lists it all – you have a ready reference.
What should it cover?
Many style guides cover the basic rules of writing (grammar, punctuation, tense, etc.). But a style guide becomes unique to your organisation when it states how you treat text. For instance, does it include a period mark in abbreviations? Do you write 10 am or 10 a.m.? See how Yahoo and Associated Press treat some aspects of text or writing differently. (http://styleguide.yahoo.com/resources/web-editors-toolbox/differences-between-yahoo-style-guide-and-associated-press-stylebook)
Some points your style guide should include:
- Treatment of the company name. What is the full name? What abbreviations and usages are ok? For instance, can Creative Solutions Pvt Ltd be abbreviated to CSPL or CS?
- Use of key phrases, relevant to your domain and work. Do you refer to your vendors as service providers or partners? Do you say underprivileged children or vulnerable children?
- Dos and don’ts. Such as using competitors’ names in messages, conventions for naming documents, captions for pictures… think of the few aspects that make a difference to your company’s communication and list them out.
A style guide can be long and exhaustive. But that intimidates users rather than encourage them to refer to it. So, cover the key points necessary for your organisation and suggest links for more extensive reading.
Remember, a style guide is not set in stone. It’s an evolving document. Review and edit it periodically, based on your organisational requirements and changing usage. See how The New York Times accepts Kolkata as the new spelling for Calcutta in its revised stylebook. http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/the-latest-in-style/
