Version: 1.2 | Publication date: 1 July 2011 | Format: A4 electronic editable | Pages: 40 to 70

How you benefit

• Determine and agree the style that your organisation will use
• Enhance your brand
• Establish your brands voice
• Avoid having to edit documents again
• Achieve consistency with your documents
• Get everyone on the same page
• Create a training tool and make employees aware

Summary

A Style Guide is also sometimes referred to as a Plain Language Guideline or a Communication Guide.  It deals with the practical issues regards language and guides the use of language in a consistent manner.  It is important that as an organisation everyone agrees to write in a certain way.  For example:

• How do you refer to your organisation?
• How are you going to write numbers?
• Are there any brands that must appear in a certain way?
• What font size are you going to use?

The style guide is designed for quick and effective reading.  It is a easy quick reference guide.  Useful and practical. It includes the following:

• Background
• The principles of plain language (for example, use the first person, and always refer to the organisation in a certain way)
• Specific regulatory requirements (for example, a regulatory board requiring double spacing)
• Guidelines for communications
• A checklist to check that a document is in plain language
• Further reading – good books and resources that people can read

When should you do this?

It should be done at the beginning of the project.

Who does it apply to?

It is for all medium to large organisations. The organisations that will find it especially useful are:

• banks
• insurance companies
• retailers
• law firms