Play the long game: Build a style guide for consistently successful communication
I’ve built my career at startups and nonprofit organizations, where resources can be scarce and employees are often expected to wear multiple hats. The variety of roles one must fill in these environments keeps the work engaging, but it also presents challenges. It is too easy to let urgent tasks crowd out important ones—on both an individual and organizational level.
Many organizations have not paused their frenetic pace long enough to build out efficient, enduring systems that would optimize productivity and quality. In my field, communications, a style guide is one such tool.
A well-crafted style guide can revolutionize the way a communications department operates by enhancing efficiency, promoting consistent quality, and codifying the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice into daily work.
What is a style guide?
A style guide is a comprehensive reference tool that sets standards for: written language (voice/tone, grammar, punctuation, spelling, word choice, etc.), visual language/design (color palettes, image selection, layout specifications, etc.), and specific considerations for print media, social media, video and audio stories, websites, enewsletters, and other platforms. When built and used properly, style guides support the efficient production and consistent quality of marketing collateral. A style guide can also reinforce brand identity because it facilitates consistency in the way an organization’s communications are written and designed.
This all may sound very dry and very niche. Perhaps it is, but style guides get me excited! That’s because they can revolutionize the way an overwhelmed communications department operates.
Benefits of style guides
One of the most basic yet significant ways in which a style guide can help is by settling subjective disagreements. For instance, most writers have strong opinions about Oxford commas. Once a style guide is created, that debate is, mercifully, over. Those who are in favor of Oxford commas and those who are woefully mistaken can finally make peace. Now, one can just refer to page X in the style guide, make the proper notation, and move onto discussing more important matters—like target audiences, campaign strategies, and other, bigger aspects of successful communication. Thus, a style guide enhances efficiency and elevates conversations among colleagues.
A well-crafted style guide also elevates conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. Codifying DEIJ in organizational standards facilitates the consistent use of respectful, modern language and otherwise supports the needs of systemically marginalized communities. For instance, accessibility for people with disabilities is a core element of all style guides that I build. By setting those standards and providing guidance on how to use features like alt text, page structure, and #CamelCaseHashtags, I can facilitate positive change—and help an organization reach more audiences at the same time!
Style guides also support the success of staff with diverse lived experiences by eliminating “unspoken rules” that are not intuitive to everyone. Unspoken rules are too often used to judge, exclude, intimidate, and ultimately push out those who do not easily fit into the dominant culture of an organization. Style guides take away that nerve-wracking guesswork and support better outcomes for newcomers, people who are neurodivergent, and people who have a different educational and/or cultural background than their colleagues.
Potential pitfalls
That said, there are risks whenever we approach language in a prescriptive manner (telling people what to do with language). People are too often judged and categorized based on their communication styles, rather than their ideas. This typically reinforces the oppressive structures present in our society—because the ways in which people communicate are often closely related to socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, national origin, disability, and other facets of identity.
Approaching written and visual communication with nuance and empathy is the antidote. It is important to acknowledge that language is constantly evolving, culturally specific, and highly personal to individuals. It’s not just about “right” versus “wrong” uses of language. There is room for ambiguity, discussion, and mutual learning.
Which brings me to a final note about style guides: they are living documents. They are meant to evolve alongside languages, and they must keep up with changes in communication best practices. That’s a tall order, but it is vitally important to keep the tools of one’s trade in good repair. Style guides are no exception. Conducting style guide revisions every few years might feel like yet another task to add to one’s to-do list, but it is an important investment in the long-term success of your organization’s communications.
In conclusion…
There are many organizations making do without style guides because they are too focused on more urgent matters. I will admit that developing a style guide is a front-loaded task, but it supports efficient processes, high-quality deliverables, the success of employees with diverse needs, and the meaningful inclusion of systemically marginalized communities. It’s well worth the work.
Learn more
ACCESSIBILITY
Check out the Web Accessibility Initiative’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), an international standard for accessible online communications.
INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE
Describing social causes while avoiding savior narratives can be a challenging balance. Here’s some great advice from Ivy Teng Lei.
Explore person-first, strengths-based language in this piece by Alyssa Scott.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary does a good job staying up-to-date on best practices.
