Thread by @MakingMonzo

We just updated our tone of voice guide! It's an overview of how we write, intended for folks here at Monzo, but shared with the whole world.

Here's a two-minute taster 👇

We use the language our audiences uses. So no formal business speak.

Some easy replacements:

Assistance → Help

Ensure → Make sure

Query → Question

It also means technical language is the exception, not the rule. Because who calls money "funds"?

eg. Terminal → Card machine

Tip: swap nouns for verbs! It sounds more natural, and it'll make your writing clearer.

'We conducted an analysis of' → 'We analysed'

'We provide help' → 'We help'

We use the active voice to stay clear about who's doing what.

It's tempting to avoid blame with "a decision has been made to ..."

But it's shifty, and ambiguous. Who made the decision?

"We've decided to..." is much better.

It's more transparent and fairer to the reader, even though it's bad news.

An easy rule of thumb: if you can add "by monkeys" to the end of a sentence, it's passive.

"A decision was made... [by monkeys]" 🙈

Naughty monkeys.

Our language should also be inclusive. That's more than just avoiding the obvious no-nos. It's actively making language more welcoming.

It's common to address groups of people as "guys" even if there are women present. We prefer "folks" or "team."

Some more examples of terms we've swapped out:

Blacklist → Blocklist

Whitelist → Allowlist

Lastly, let's talk emojis ❤️

We're big fans here at Monzo. But we use them sparingly, to add context. And never to replace words.

We're mindful of people using screen-readers, which can struggle with emoji-heavy text.

For loads more info and examples, check out our full tone of voice guide here 👇

monzo.com/tone-of-voice/