02
Tone of voice
Ably always speaks with a consistency based on three characteristics:
Integrity
Strong beliefs/opinions but not emotional, honest, transparent, data-driven, analytical, proof, evidence, accountable, reliable.
Do
- Mean what you say
- Speak with confidence
- Concede mistakes
- Give competitors respect where due
Don't
- Be emotional
- Try to be the reader's friend (avoid 'matey' tone)
- Use emojis
- Make mistakes (grammatical, spelling, factual etc)
- Use 'could, might, should' if 'can, will' are possible
- Make false claims
Considered
Intelligent, informed, rational, thought-through, smart, confident, expert, respectful, supportive.
Do
- Give evidence, facts, data
- Allow alternate views
- Assume our readers are smart
Don't
- Use too many exclamation marks!
- Or double punctuation?!
- Use ‘I/my’ as Ably; 'you/your' instead
- Use hyperbole or overstate Patronise or dumb-down
- Use slang / swearing
Efficient
Short, fast, direct, practical, simple, straightforward, plain, useful, applied.
Do
- Cut words. Shorter is better
- Break up text, use bullets, sub-heads etc
Don't
- Have paragraphs longer than three sentences
- Waffle
- Use unnecessary words (‘like…’ ‘So…’)
Copy guidelines and dictionary
If you are writing content for emails, articles, our documentation or any Ably collateral, we have produced a document with copy writing guidelines and handy Ably dictionary reference.