2. Find your voice
Speak onto the page
Watch your tone
Know when to keep a straight face
Be honest
Find your voice
Speak onto the page
Watch your tone
Know when to keep a straight face
Be honest
3.
4. That being said, here are our TENTATIVE plans...
1. All the space left behind by the support team becomes a big open
meeting area. For pizza days, for coffee hours, for events. Maybe
some robot wars, I dunno. We’re already getting too big for the Paula
Deen room, and we need the space. I’ve heard proposals for a big
gym, and for yoga classes. But we already have a gym in the
basement of the 530 bldg. If you complain to me that the weight
equipment is old, shut up. Rocky Balboa trained with rocks and dead
animals in a meat locker. Gravity is gravity, and heavy stuff weighs the
same whether it’s old or new.
5. Ask questions
What does your company do?
Why did you start your company?
Why do people visit your website?
Who are your customers?
What other companies do you admire?
6. If your brand were a person, how would you describe them?
Show me a few examples of content that suits your brand.
What other companies do you admire?
How do you want people to feel when they visit your website?
Ask questions
If your brand were a person, how would you
describe him or her?
Show me a few examples of content that
suits your brand.
How do you want people to feel when they
visit your website?
7. MailChimp is
fun but not childish
clever but not silly
smart but not stodgy
confident but not cocky
informal but not sloppy
helpful but not overbearing
expert but not bossy
weird but not inappropriate
13. "It is insight into human nature that
is key to the communicator's skill.
For whereas the writer is concerned
with what he puts into his writings,
the communicator is concerned
with what the reader gets out of it.
He therefore becomes a student of
how people read or listen."
William Bernbach
14. Find your voice
Speak onto the page
Watch your tone
Know when to keep a straight face
Be honest
15. "A good teacher I know, Jennifer
Auger, has a simple but effective
technique for the writing classroom.
When her students have blah
voiceless writing, she makes them
speak the following words to her
before reading their text: 'Listen to
me, I have something to tell you.'"
Peter Elbow
Vernacular Eloquence: What Speech Can Bring to Writing
18. Find your voice
Speak onto the page
Watch your tone
Know when to keep a straight face
Be honest
19.
20. Style guide: content types
e app
e application is MailChimp’s heart. Its language helps people along
as they create, send and track email campaigns. People using the app
already know and love MailChimp, so we can have a little fun with the
language–though our priority is helping them get their work done
quickly.
Why we do it: Duh.
Microcopy
Microcopy is that small but oh-so-important instructional copy that
you usually see in forms and feedback messages. It might remind a
user that her password has to contain a number or explain that email
communication will only be used regarding a specific order. We also
call it “help text,” and you see it both in the app and on the public site.
It’s short and to-the-point.
Why we do it: To help users complete tasks.
MailChimp newsletter
MailChimp’s email newsletter is a company update written by our
CEO, Ben. It’s full of photos, stories, experiments, links and
announcements for customers who want to know more about
MailChimp. It’s casual and entertaining.
Why we do it: To give customers more MailChimp news and provide an
occasional behind-the-scenes look at how the company works. We are
an email service, after all.
25. "If advertising had a little more
respect for the public, the public
would have a lot more respect for
advertising."
James Randolph Adams
26. To determine your tone
of voice, consider:
1. Content type
2. e reader's emotional state
27. Ask yourself
What situation is the reader in that's bringing
her to this content?
What situation will this content put her in?
How does the reader feel right now?
How will this content make her feel?
What can I do to maintain the reader's state
of mind or put her in a better one?
62. "I’ve learned that people will forget
what you said, people will forget
what you did, but people will never
forget how you made them feel."
Maya Angelou
