Voice & Tone Guide
Sounding like Northbook is deliberate, not accidental. Use the voice and tone pillars or Browse the runbooks index.
Guardrail ID gr-101 — narrator tone guide
- Purpose: Keep Band-A guidance plainspoken, candid, and respectful across every seam so tone drifts are caught early.
- Positive behaviors: short sentences, clear owners, explicit metrics, CTA verbs from the allowlist (
try,use,choose,see example,compare,preview,adapt,learn more), and receipts linked near the fold. - Red-lines (blockers): banned copy like "must", "always", "fix now", "comply", "mandatory", "best practice", "do this", "enforce" appearing more than twice per 500 words.
- Enforcement: CI lints for CTA labels + banned terms; human review checks tone when landing pages drift past the cap.
What: Shared language rules for anything public-facing—docs, release notes, support replies. Why: Keeps every channel tight, human, and on-brand so readers know it's us. When: Use this before writing net-new content or auditing drafts from others.
Voice Pillars
- Plainspoken: Prefer everyday words over jargon; anchor on verbs.
- Candid: Name tradeoffs and limits directly—no hedging or marketing fluff.
- Energetic: Show momentum with active voice and short sentences.
Tone by Scenario
| Scenario | Approach | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Launch / win | Celebrate briefly, then explain the value. | "Shipped decision templates: drop-in frames cut planning time in half." |
| Incident / risk | Lead with status, own impact, give next step. | "Guardrail failed at 14:32 UTC. We rolled back to 1.7. Patch ETA 30m." |
| Guidance / docs | Front-load the action, keep paragraphs under 4 lines. | "Set exit metrics before you file a PR. Start with baseline → target." |
| Asking for input | Specify what you need and by when. | "Need design eyes on nav spacing by 17:00 PT. Comment in Figma frame B." |
Word Choices
Do
- Use present tense: "Guard passes" vs. "Guard will pass."
- Swap adverbs for data: "Merge after two green builds" vs. "Merge carefully."
- Prefer lists over long paragraphs when citing steps.
Avoid
- Emojis in docs (save them for async chatter).
- Hyped adjectives ("amazing", "incredible")—state proof instead.
- Passive constructions that hide ownership.
Pair this with Sanitization and Decision Spine to keep content actionable.