Language and Style

This section gives you some rules, hints, tricks and no-gos on how to write for/about George outside of his actual interface. There are many occasions, situations and channels where George could be the talk of the town. Many of these texts may require very different tonalities whereas some languages guidelines ensure the consistency and credibility of the George brand across all countries.

I am George / He is George

With George, Banking has a name. This fact defines the most language important rule: In the UI, George is referring to himself in the first person “I”, whereas in texts about George, he is referred to as a person, using the third person “He”. This might seem odd as, in the end, George is and stays a machine, but so is Siri as well.

Describe George with human attributes but don’t describe him as a human being (yes, there is a difference). Nevertheless, giving George the personal pronoun that comes along with a human name is more than a logical consequence. It makes already all the difference in how George as a personal digital companion is perceived, compared to other internet banking applications.

Therefore, be consistent in giving banking the right name. If you follow this rule, half of the job is already done.

• Outside the George user interface, always refer to George as “he”. “We” means the bank, “You” means the user.
• You do something “with George”, not “in George”.
• Login “to George”, not “into George.”
• “George does something”, not “the George app or the George internet banking does something.”
• “Ask George”, not “ask the George app”.

Active voice

The second most important George language rule is to use an active voice and to avoid passive constructions wherever possible. As George’s ambition is to give access to, control of and guidance for your financial life, it is very important that also in the language, the user is always an active subject, not a passive object.

Make it human

This should go without saying. Whatever you write, you don’t do it for yourself, nor for the bank, you write for the customers.

• Use clear and short complete sentences.
• Always focus on what something means for a customer. They don’t care what it means to the bank.

Tips & Tricks for writing

Not everyone is a natural in writing. Yet here are some techniques, guidelines and tools that help you to write good copy.

• Think about what you want to say. Then say it.
• Write. Then read: Write as if you speak to a person. Then stand up and read your copy to yourself or a colleague. If you understand yourself, you’re good. If the other person understands you, you’re georgeous. If not, write again.
• The ideal sentence has 7 to 32 words. Within a text, vary in the length of sentences but keep the number of messages as low as possible.
• The more messages you attempt to communicate, the lower the likelihood of any single message being communicated.
• Structured paragraphs and subheadlines are your friends.
• Use help tools like http://www.hemingwayapp.com/ or the FLESCH Reading ease test https://www.webfx.com/tools/read-able/
• Stop writing the obvious. Never be redundant.
• Challenge adjectives, use verbs: Focus on what George does.
• Give yourself limitations and stick to them: e.g. train your writing skills by only using 5-word sentences or by sentences that begin with an “a”.
• Train a change of voice: Write the same content in 2 different tonalities.
• Get inspired by others but never copy & paste.
• Under any circumstances: Tell it like it is.