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Our approach to achieving consistency and inclusivity. |
We speak like clear, compassionate, experienced and earnest business partners who are invested in the growth of our clients and organisation. We are casually formal yet conversational and do not sound authoritative. To that end, when we write anything, we are:
- Conversational
- Plainspoken
- Genuine
- Empathetic
- Engaging
We are partial to British spellings in our content. We use ‘colour’ instead of ‘color’ unless spelt otherwise in a book title, a company name or other reference material.
We use -ise instead of -ize (except for non-conjugational words such as “capsize”) and refer to Collins Dictionary for any doubts.
We use contractions such as “they’re”, “we’re”, “I’m” and “shouldn’t” freely. However, we avoid using uncommon ones such as “mightn’t have”, “ain’t”, “she’d’ve” and “y’all”.
We actively try to practise conscious writing, so we avoid:
Industry jargon
We avoid using industry jargon unless needed, in which case we hyperlink them to an explanatory source. Our language mostly aims to simplify ‘industry speak’ to make our thoughts more accessible.
Negative language
We avoid using any negative language as much as possible and frame sentences positively.
Ableism
We avoid using maxims that are inherently ableist, such as “falling on deaf ears” and “blind leading the blind”.
We also create short, snappy sentences that can be easily read out by a machine for any visually-impaired visitors.
Gender assumption
We avoid specifying genders where it is unclear, or if the preference of the person in question is unknown. To that end, we use “they” in such instances instead of he/she.
Slang and colloquialisms
We avoid using slang or colloquial language that may inadvertently alienate readers.