Finding your voice
Sharing a verbal identity
As organisations begin to change their style of web writing,
they often find their other written communications appear
too stiff and formal.
Ideally every organisation should communicate in a recognisable
way that is clearly agreed and defined as a 'verbal identity'.
This is just as important as a visual identity.
A verbal identity system projects the organisation' s style
through all its written communication channels. Style guides
need to specify not just correctness but standards of writing
that support the organisation's brand values and tone of voice.
Acceptable conversational traits, including formality and
informality levels, should be included.
It's also useful to design editorial checklists, linked to
both standards and values, to help people agree on changes.
Russell-Oliver Brooklands has coined the term 'linguistic
osmosis' to describe how employees end up subconsciously imitating
the style of writing that pervades their organisation.
He points out that the same phenomenon can be used to introduce
a new verbal identity via the back door.
'By ensuring that all the business's key communications …
follow the new standards, the very corporate voice that people
hear when they read these communications will itself change.
And over time the voice they adopt when writing will follow
suit.' (www.comdynamics.com)
There is no doubt that refinements in web writing are having
a dramatic effect on corporate culture and how we interact
with one another. Overall, though, each organisation has to
choose and define its own style.
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