Narrow down a style in 3 steps

Original article published on Write Wiser .

Why is it so important to commit to one style?

Our readership should always sense the same tone of voice throughout our content, whether it comes from multiple authors or just one person.

"If content is king, consistency is queen." - An unknown author's edit to Bill Gates' 1996 article Content Is King.

Even if numerous stakeholders weigh in on our work, we need to bring the tone back to base. Why? Because consistency builds trust . Trust helps undecided prospects lean into their preference for your brand.

This why you should commit to one style.

Now, how do you go about this on the daily?

1. Make a style guide.

You might choose to use one of the existing Chicago , AP , APA , or MLA style guides. Most brands adopt one, and then document exceptions for certain words or punctuation uses. This should be limited to brand-specific words such as "co-working" vs "coworking" in the case of a communal office building.

A rule might be to never use the word "co-working" at all, as was the case for my ex-employer WeWork, which only defined itself as shared or flexible office space except for SEO purposes. Weigh up exceptions that might protect your brand's definition.

2. Broadcast your style guide.

Sounds like I repeated a tip? I promise you there's nuance!

You would be surprised how many well-established companies spend months or years perfecting a style guide, then neglect to share it far and wide. Every person at the company needs to know how you talk about your brand.

• Run regular sessions to share style updates with the wider team.
• Integrate the style guide into onboarding programming.
• If your marketing team consists of more than one writer, delegate a go-to person for style questions from other teams. This needn't be the most senior person on the team, it can be a valued position of responsibility that you give to a writer who thrives in cross-team collaboration.

3. Programme your own autocorrect

In an ideal world, you'd have a professional editor to check everything you write... In reality, you can personalise your own autocorrection tool.

You don't need special coding experience to personalise an autocorrector: online and add-on grammar correctors allow users to turn grammar rules on and off.

For you, this might be deactivating passive voice correction when doing technical writing, or adding in phrases that your company uses but dictionaries don't, like "to Uber somewhere".

That's how to get started! Commit to one style and stick to it with these 3 easy steps.

Would you add a 4th? Drop your suggestion in the comments!