Style

Think about your audience

Different school staff have different needs and levels of use for our products.

Use plain English

Communication should be easy to understand and jargon-free.

Be honest

Don’t over-promise or embellish our achievements, unfounded claims may not be legal.

Be engaging

Use the present tense and speak to our readers, not at them.

Be concise

Make sure all information is useful, if you can cut out a word, then do so. Use ‘lets you use’ instead of ‘allows’ or ‘enables’ or ‘gives you the ability’.

Talk in first and second person

Use first-person plural ‘we’ and second person ‘you’ to speak directly to your audience and maintain a conversational tone.

Contractions

Using contractions gives copy a personal and conversational tone. Contractions such as don’t and can’t are fine.

Numbers

In the product, and when describing a measurement, always use the numeral. In copy, use numerals for double-digit numbers and larger.

Latin terms

It’s best to use English terms to make sure everyone understands. ‘For example’ should be used instead of ‘i.e.’ or ‘e.g.’, ‘through’ or ‘using’ instead of ‘via’.

Abbreviations

Think about your audience and if they will be familiar with a term. If they may not be familiar, in the first instance, follow with it spelt out in parentheses.

Spelling

Spelling mistakes can be distracting as well as wrong, and you can lose the very person who you want to read your message. Get your work read through as well as using Spell Check and Google.