How to Create a Style Guide

Consistency in your communications is important. Using the same logos, fonts, terms and even punctuation conventions give your materials a more professional look. It makes things easier for the writers and editors you hire, whether they're in-house or freelancers. It also gets you thinking about how you want your materials to represent you. Here's how to create a style guide everyone can follow.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Define the audience for your style guide. Writers and editors are familiar with parts of speech and grammar rules and can understand terms like "independent clause" and "adverbial phrase." A style guide for office staff, however, needs more examples and less jargon.
2. Decide which materials for which you need a style guide. Web copy demands different rules than print, and take oral communication like presentations, commercials and podcasts into consideration if you use them. You can have one document or make separate style guides for each medium based on your audience.
3. Start by describing the tone you wish all materials to have. Be aware that different media need different styles. Web copy, for instance, should be less formal than an annual report.
4. Include samples of the visual aspects of your written and online communications. This is especially important if you've changed logos, fonts or colors. Make sure anyone creating digital versions of your written communications has access to any files they need.
5. Decide on the format of terms you use frequently in your materials. A nonprofit organization that serves the African American community, for instance, needs to decide whether both "black" and "African American" are acceptable or if one is preferred over the other.
6. Consult one of the well known style guides like Chicago, MLA or AP for tips on grammar issues. There's no need to go into minute detail unless you churn out academic-level materials, but the style guide should discuss common issues like the passive versus active voice.
7. Clarify basic punctuation issues so someone isn't left wondering whether to use a serial comma or not. Include things like whether writers should avoid the exclamation point and when to use a semicolon instead of a period.

Tips & Warnings

• Get opinions from staff and freelancers you employ on a regular basis about their preferences.
• Create both an online and hardcopy version of the style guide that everyone in the office can access.
• Don't forget to include a list of terms you don't want to see in your materials.