IOXIQ TONE OF VOICE AND WRITING GUIDE Updated 4 October 2026 Use the words a business owner would use. Explain the work, name the output and make the next action clear. IOXIQ sounds like an attentive adviser who understands business and takes the time to understand yours. We ask useful questions, explain our reasoning and give a recommendation the reader can judge. Good copy gives the reader something useful: an explanation, a relevant detail or a next step. These standards apply to websites, proposals, reports, emails and social posts, whether written by a person, with AI or together. THE CHARACTER OF OUR VOICE Curious: Ask about the situation before naming the solution. Respect what the client knows. Avoid a diagnosis based on a single answer. Clear: Describe the work in familiar business terms. Name the question, the work involved and what the client receives. Explain specialist terms when the reader needs them. Confident: Give a view and explain the basis for it. Say what would change the recommendation. Avoid certainty beyond the evidence or a list of options with no judgement. Human: Address the person making the decision. Make room for unfinished thoughts and acknowledge difficult choices without scripted sympathy or flattery. Lightly playful: A curious question or a well-chosen image can invite a fresh look. Keep humour away from someone’s costs, risk, setbacks or uncertainty. Straightforward copy is often enough. COPYWRITING DOS AND DON’TS Say something the reader can use. The examples below demonstrate wording; they are not claims about completed client work. Use a scope or recommendation example only when it matches the actual work and evidence. Start with the decision DO: Find out whether customers would pay before committing to a launch. DON’T: In today’s rapidly evolving landscape, understanding your customers is more crucial than ever. Name the work and output DO: We compare the options and explain which one we recommend. DON’T: We unlock actionable insights and deliver transformative strategic clarity. Ask for relevant detail DO: Which customers are leaving, and what reasons do they give? DON’T: We take a comprehensive approach to your multifaceted challenges. State the positive point directly DO: We help you decide what to do next. DON’T: We don’t just deliver strategy. We unlock your future. Take a position with a reason DO: Test demand before launching. The cost of a launch is hard to justify while willingness to pay is unknown. DON’T: There are advantages and disadvantages to launching. Ultimately, the right decision depends on your business. Keep observation and interpretation distinct DO: Sales fell. We need to check whether price affected demand. DON’T: Sales fell, underscoring the urgent need for a transformative pricing strategy. Keep the scale of the claim honest DO: The review will help you compare the options. DON’T: A pivotal review that will redefine your business and guarantee lasting success. Choose ordinary verbs DO: The report includes the options and their costs. DON’T: The report serves as a comprehensive testament to the possibilities ahead. Be approachable DO: Tell us what’s going on. You don’t need a finished brief. DON’T: Great question! Let’s dive into your exciting business journey. Name the action DO: Read the scope DON’T: Unlock your potential WRITE WITH A NATURAL RHYTHM Lead with the point. Use the next sentence to explain it or give evidence. Let a paragraph end when it has done its job. A short headline can invite attention; the copy beneath it must explain something. For a recommendation, move from the business question through evidence and options to a next step. A button, an email or a short answer needs only the parts that help its reader. • Mix short sentences with longer explanations where the reasoning needs them. Read aloud to catch stiffness and repetition. Never add slang, mistakes or artificial roughness to make writing feel natural. • Give each section the space its subject needs. Use headings that name the topic or finding. Skip an introduction that announces the article and a conclusion that simply repeats it. • Use a list for genuinely separate items and prose for connected reasoning. Keep as many items as are useful. Avoid repeated three-part lists, strings of fragments, question-and-answer reveals and slogans at the end of every paragraph. • Use punctuation for meaning and emphasis for navigation. An em dash, a contraction or a polished sentence is fine. Avoid a repeated device that makes the page sound rehearsed; replacing every dash with a semicolon will not improve the thought. • Remove connectors such as “Moreover” or “In conclusion” when the relationship is already clear. Keep words such as “because”, “but” and “so” when they explain a real connection. CHOOSE WORDS THAT DO USEFUL WORK Prefer “use” to “leverage”, “look into” to “delve into”, and “includes” to “boasts”. Words such as “seamless”, “robust”, “innovative”, “pivotal” and “transformative” need a specific meaning and evidence. Often the useful edit is to describe what happens. These are choices about meaning, not a banned-word list. Keep a necessary technical term, explain it once and use it consistently. A familiar word can still be vague: explain what “clarity”, “value” or “growth” means in this situation. Bring in what IOXIQ actually knows: the question being investigated, a relevant observation, a trade-off or the reason for a recommendation. If the paragraph could belong to any consultancy, find the useful detail or remove it. Never invent detail to make the writing distinctive. ADAPT THE TONE TO THE MOMENT Our character stays consistent. The reader’s situation determines how much warmth, detail and formality is useful. Website and first conversations Be welcoming and easy to follow. Start with a recognisable business concern; invite an answer without assuming the problem. Example wording: What are you trying to decide? Forms and follow-up emails Ask for the information needed now. Follow up on what the person has said and keep the same terms from the first choice through the final message. Example wording: What would you need to know before going ahead? Research and recommendations Be precise about evidence and willing to give a view. Explain the trade-off and uncertainty. Keep decorative language out of the reasoning. Example wording: We don’t yet know whether customers would pay. Test that before deciding to launch. Proposals and fees Be explicit about the work, outputs, price basis and limits. Put conditions beside the relevant promise. Use the agreed commercial terms. Example wording: Scope, outputs and final terms are agreed before paid work. Errors and handoffs Be calm and direct. Explain the actual state and the next action. Avoid jokes, blame or a success message before something has happened. Example wording: Review before you send. Nothing is sent until you choose to send it. Social posts and presentations Offer one useful observation or question, then develop it. A little playfulness is welcome when it serves the idea. Avoid grand predictions and empty provocation. Example wording: What would have to be true for this to work? USE THE READER’S WORDS Imagine speaking with an owner you’ve just met. Ask about their customers, sales, costs and decisions. Let them describe what’s happening before naming the kind of help they need. Ask one clear question at a time and follow up on the answer. Opening the conversation DO: What’s on your mind? DON’T: Select your strategic challenge. Naming a growth problem DO: We need to grow the business. DON’T: Find our growth. Naming a customer problem DO: We’re struggling to stand out. DON’T: Sharpen our value. Asking for advice DO: I need someone to think this through with. DON’T: Get strategic support. Talking about AI DO: Where could AI actually help us? DON’T: Identify your AI transformation priorities. Understanding the business DO: What do you sell or do, and who are your customers? DON’T: Describe your operating model and target segments. Following up on an opportunity DO: What are you considering, and what would you need to know before going ahead? DON’T: Outline your commercial due diligence requirements. Checking the message DO: Does this sound right? DON’T: Validate your strategic brief. GIVE EVERY CLAIM A SOUND BASIS Confidence comes from the reasoning. Distinguish what we know, what we infer and what we recommend. A recommendation should explain its trade-offs and the evidence that could change it. IOXIQ recommends; the client decides. • Check names, dates, numbers, quotations and links against an accessible source. The source must support the exact claim. Name the research or expert when attribution matters; “studies show” is not enough. • Use actual client experience only when verified and approved for use. Never invent clients, people, credentials, testimonials or results. Label illustrative scenarios where they appear so they cannot be mistaken for evidence. • If evidence is missing, narrow the claim, state what remains unknown or leave it out. Do not turn an observation into a causal explanation or describe routine work as a breakthrough. • Match promises to the actual service and interface. Keep fees, VAT treatment, indicative ranges, scope limits and delivery states accurate. Put important conditions beside the claim; avoid guaranteed business outcomes. • Explain AI services through a useful task, the information required and how people check the result. Avoid claims that automation removes the need for judgement or guarantees accuracy. Commercial copy must agree with the current fees and scope on the website: /how-we-work/#fees. APPROVED SHORT COPY Use these established phrases where they fit the page and the actual action. Keep the surrounding explanation specific to the reader’s situation. Brand description: Strategy & Professional Services. Opening invitation: Tell us what’s going on. Method: Frame the question. Investigate the evidence. Recommend a next step. Primary action: Let’s talk about your business Form help: Tell us what you sell or do, and who your customers are. Validation: Enter an email address we can reply to. Handoff: Review before you send. Nothing is sent until you choose to send it. KEEP THE HOUSE STYLE CONSISTENT • Write IOXIQ in capitals. Use “we” for the team and “you” for the reader. Use the client’s own terms where they are clear. • Use British English and sentence case for headings. Keep capitals for brand names, acronyms and compact interface labels. • Prefer active verbs and concrete nouns. Make it clear who does the work. Use contractions when they sound natural; precise formal wording is welcome where it is needed. • Keep official service names, agreed terms and approved legal wording accurate. Explain an acronym on first use when the audience may not know it. • Label links and buttons with the action or destination. Write form help that explains what is needed. Use short, specific validation messages. BEFORE THE COPY GOES OUT Read it once as the person who needs to understand it. Judge the usefulness and accuracy of the finished copy, whoever wrote the draft. • Is the main point clear from the opening, and is it relevant to this reader? • Does each paragraph add an explanation, evidence or a useful next action? • Can we support every factual claim, and are assumptions and examples clearly labelled? • Does it sound like something we would say to a business owner? Remove repeated patterns and unnecessary ceremony. • Are the action, scope and outcome described truthfully? Check the wording against the actual page, service or agreement. • Is the finished copy ready for its destination? Remove drafting notes, placeholders, stray markup and irrelevant conversational sign-offs. Check headings, metadata and link destinations as well as the body.