Do you prefer “It’s a good idea…” or “It is a good idea”? For your board of directors, do you say chairman/chairwoman, chairperson, or just chair? Do you write Washington D.C., with periods, or Washington DC, without? Style decisions can seem endless!
Even when you work on your own you can’t avoid style decisions—you need to be consistent, to show that you are structured and thoughtful.
Imagine now a whole organization full of people doing things in different ways. A comma here, no comma there. Color that switches to colour then back to color. Someone says “chief sales officer,” someone else says “vice president of sales,” but they’re actually talking about the same person…
You need a style guide
It’s best when everyone dances to the same tune. There are clear advantages to having a style guide:
- You can find your corporate voice
What are your values, your brand identity, your personality? Are you friendly and young? Are you the voice of experience? You tell people who you are by how you talk to them. That’s why it’s important to have rules and ask people to follow them.
- Your communications will be clearer
If you use two different words in your assembly instructions to name the same part, people may waste a lot of time looking for a part that doesn’t exist. Everything you write and say should be clear and consistent.
- You send a message of quality
Taking care with your communications tells people that you care about other aspects of your business too—and that’s something to keep in mind for every language your organization uses!
- Your writers and translators will thank you
When everything your communicators need is just a click away, it’s so much easier and faster for them to do their job. At TRSB, we put together a style guide for every client. That way, our translators always know your style preferences and can consult them at any time.
How to create a style guide
Start by putting someone in charge, ideally a language professional. People with training in language are more familiar with style issues and know which resources to consult (dictionaries, glossaries, online resources, etc.).
In smaller organizations, that might be enough. That person can create a guide from their preferred style choices and ask people to follow it. Remember that a corporate style guide is a living, evolving document that you can update as people provide feedback and new issues arise.
In larger organizations with broader communication requirements, it’s best to consult with your colleagues. The person in charge should ask all those with language expertise for input on what the style guide should include. Form a committee if necessary—and decide who will have the final word.
The easiest solution
Or you could talk to the language experts at TRSB. As multilingual content specialists, we have extensive experience with language tools like style guides. We will consult with you and analyze your communication environment, then make suggestions based on the needs we identify together:
- What communication issues apply specifically to your organization?
- Do you have briefing documents on your corporate personality and target audiences?
- What advice should the guide provide on plain language?
- Do you need specific guidelines for different platforms (social media, etc.)?
- What are the keywords that writers and translators need to use for search engine optimization?
- What terminology specific to your business should be included?
- What is the best approach for gender-free writing?
- Which spelling conventions should you follow?
- What are the best strategies for keeping translations into other languages consistent?
One big advantage at TRSB is that we have a complete in-house terminology department devoted to issues like these. They can not only create a corporate style guide, but also update and manage your terminology databases.
Whatever your language requirements, remember that expert help is only a phone call away—at TRSB, a global translation leader and the world’s biggest localizer into Canadian French.