10 Things You Should Not Exclude From Your Company’s Style Guide

Writers Write creates writing resources and shares writing tips. In this post, we share 10 things you should not exclude from your company’s style guide.

We recently wrote about The Importance of a Style Guide for your company. The basis of a style guide is to provide a road map for internal and external written communications. It is a tool that shows company employees and freelancers how to follow the company’s style of business language. However, many companies are unsure about the guidelines that should be included in the style guide.

How To Compile A Style Guide

We suggest that you examine current documents in the company to see what types of errors are made consistently. Writers may use jargon, complicated terms, incorrect punctuation, and too much passive voice. Language usage may vary from department to department. Make a list. This list will form the foundation for your company style guide.

We have compiled a basic list of the things that we believe should be included. Please note these are merely suggestions. You need to define the literacy level of your client base, what information is important to your company and the industry your company services. You also need to remember that documents must be written in plain language.

The 10 Most Basic Contents to Include in a Style Guide for Writers

1. Spelling
2. Punctuation
3. Abbreviations
4. Numbers
5. Active and Passive Voice
6. Pronouns
7. Jargon and Technical Terms
8. Readability Statistics
9. Document Format
10. Trademarks

If you enjoyed this article, read these posts:

1. 25 Email Etiquette Tips For Professional People
2. What Is A Style Guide And Why Do I Need One?
3. Punctuation For Beginners: What Is Punctuation?
4. All About Parts Of Speech

 by Ulrike Hill.