CIPR SKILLS GUIDE CREATING A STYLE GUIDE FOR YOUR ORGANISATION #CIPR @CIPR_UK
WHY HAVE A STYLE GUIDE? Sloppy writing, jargon, long sentences and incomprehensible waffle ironically communicates one thing very clearly that an organisation doesn t value its publics. So whether your organisation has ten employees or 10,000, a house style guide helps ensure everyone takes a consistent approach to written communication. It shows people the rules they must follow if part of their job involves writing. And this means your organisation s communications become clearer and more consistent. Surely, that s got to be a priority? CREATING A HOUSE STYLE Organisations without a house style appear confused and amateurish. Here are a few things to think about when deciding on your house style: // Capital letters: Should people write headings in block capitals or not? // Times: Are people invited to a meeting at 14:00 hours or 2pm? // Dates: Should people write 25 July or the 25th of July? // Abbreviations: PR & marketing; or public relations and marketing? // Punctuation: Can you use full stops after headings? Is it on-line or online? // Numbers: Do you write two or 2? Can a sentence start with a number? // Emphasis: Should people use bold, italics or underlining to emphasise something? CIPR SKILLS GUIDE: CREATING A STYLE GUIDE FOR YOUR ORGANISATION 1
PLAIN ENGLISH Plain English means writing so the reader understands what you are saying the first time they read it. You write so you can t be misunderstood. People don t like being on the receiving end of communication that s long winded, boring or full of clichés and jargon. And this can be disastrous for an organisation s reputation. Your guide needs to tell people this. You need to make your colleagues realise that communication must be clear, otherwise why bother? // Start by considering the sector you work in and the people your organisation writes for. Advise colleagues that the key is to know what they want to say and then to say it keeping their words, sentences and paragraphs short. // Active sentences always sound better than passive. So show colleagues how to ditch the passive language. TO MAKE A SENTENCE ACTIVE YOU NEED TO: // put the doer (the person, group or thing doing the action), before the verb (the action itself) // use I, you and we // reduce the number of redundant or wasteful words // avoid the verb to be in all its forms For example: Harry ate shrimp at dinner. (active) At dinner, shrimp was eaten by Harry. (passive) // Avoid using clichés and corporate, or technical jargon this only confuses the message. Advise people to cut out any technical speak that your organisation might have. Just because they know what they mean, doesn t mean their readers will. // Ask people to think about the tone of their writing. Too formal and it s likely to annoy the reader; too casual and it will make your organisation look unprofessional. // Include the Microsoft Word plain English test in your style guide. By measuring levels of passive sentences and plain English it evaluates every written document, giving three readability scores. This then shows if the communication is easy to read and understand, or not. It s a great tool for checking easily the readability of your work. SETTING UP READABILITY STATISTICS In Microsoft Word 2010 and 2013, click on file, options, proofing and then tick the box marked Show readability statistics CIPR SKILLS GUIDE: CREATING A STYLE GUIDE FOR YOUR ORGANISATION 2
WRITING FOR THE WEB Your style guide will still apply to colleagues who write for your website. But there are a few extra considerations that also need addressing when writing for the web. And these need to go in your guide. // PAGE STRUCTURE Because people scan web pages to browse for information, a page should be half the size of its printed counterpart. Your style guide should make clear the correct use of page headings, the alignment and size and font of all the text, your rules on the use of imagery and colours and splitting text up using bullet point lists. // CONTENT The content on a website must be kept relevant and up-to-date. People will lose confidence in a site that is out-of-date and will assume all the pages are inaccurate. This hardly reflects well on your organisation. In your guide recommend colleagues check that dates haven t expired on any pages. Make sure the language they use is acceptable and not offensive to visitors. Any pages that refer to laws, acts or legislations need checking regularly to make sure they are still current. Contact details of employees must also be checked regularly along with the destinations of hyperlinks to other pages. // ACCESSIBILITY AND NAVIGATION Most websites have to meet certain accessibility standards, so that, for example, those with disabilities can browse your site or that visitors can access your pages regardless of the levels of technology they have. A check with your IT department will clarify this. Your style guide should inform colleagues of measures they can take to ensure their pages meet these standards. This can include having an alternative text with images for people with visual impairments. Downloadable attachments on a page should not exceed a certain file size otherwise people with slower technology can t open them. And it s always good practice to state the file size of a downloadable attachment. This gives an indication of how long the download will take to open. CIPR SKILLS GUIDE: CREATING A STYLE GUIDE FOR YOUR ORGANISATION 3
PUTTING YOUR STYLE GUIDE TOGETHER Your house style guide needs to be user friendly. Its purpose is to be a helpful reference aid for staff so it needs to be designed for people to dip in and out of. If it isn t, people won t use it. You also need to consider the following to help bring your style guide together: // Layout A clear contents page, separate sections with key points highlighted at the beginning of each, and sub headings throughout the pages will make it easier for people to use your guide. // Design Make your guide look professional. Don t design it using Clip Art images or in Publisher. If you have inhouse designers, use them. A guide that looks naff probably won t be read so keep it simple but stylish. // Availability Decide on how your guide will be available. Will people have a hard copy or will it be available electronically as a PDF document? Will it go on your website for staff and your publics to see or just on the intranet? Do you work for a larger organisation and want to do all of these? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY... // MAKE SURE EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT THE NEW STYLE GUIDE. You re the PR professional so put your skills to good use. Get it firmly established at the highest level: send copies to the chief executive and senior management. Make sure all employees know about the guide and know that they have to use it; email them, write a news article for the company website or internal website with a copy available for people to download. If you have a staff newsletter get an article in there. And make sure people know you re available to help colleagues with any writing queries they may have. // MAKE SURE PEOPLE FOLLOW THE GUIDE. There will be people across your organisation that don t like change or don t feel they need to improve their writing. Be sensitive to this but firm. Ask people to rewrite letters, web pages or reports if they are poorly written. Get the guide established into your organisation s culture. Work to get it issued to new starters as part of the induction process. See if there s any room for setting up plain English training sessions and get them based on the style guide. Speak to the people at the top. Make it a corporate policy to communicate clearly and free of jargon, forcing people to follow the guide. CIPR SKILLS GUIDE: CREATING A STYLE GUIDE FOR YOUR ORGANISATION 4
MORE INFORMATION // Download the North Lincolnshire Council Style Guide (PDF). This comprehensive style guide contains further information on active/passive sentences, the Microsoft Plain English text and a jargon glossary, and is a good example of an in-house style guide. // The Guardian and Observer Style Guide // For advice on writing in public relations, refer to the CIPR Skills Guide Top Tips for Writers by John Foster THIS SKILLS GUIDE WAS ORIGINALLY PRODUCED BY STACEY DICKENS, NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE COUNCIL AND WAS UPDATED BY THE CIPR IN 2014. Downloading and reading this skills guide is worth 5 CIPR CPD points.