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Writing Guidelines

For ComChan and Newsletter

(

@Melanie Williams⁠

I added this page)

For these drops, we are designing a neutral voice - be mindful that the Cohort Companion will be copying from what we create and tailoring it for their own voice so it’s our job to leave room for that.

Make sure to use actual formatting and not “styles” (i.e.: Title, Subtitle, Heading 1, etc.) so that there is a better chance that all formatting will cut/paste. Always test and double-check style check, grammar, spellcheck, formatting, and the below guidelines on each post before marking each as done.

5 Parts to a ComChan Post:

Image/Screenshot/Gif

Hook / Attention Grabber

Body of message context

ONE Clear call to action (CTA)

In a follow-up post, model what the CTA is asking

Overarching things to consider:

Conversational - talk to or with them, don’t preach or teach. We are walking alongside them not asking them to follow us.

Personal - Should feel like you are slacking one person or in the case of an announcement: the understanding that the group is full of individuals. Leave room for a genuine connection between the human posting and the human receiving.

Encourage group interaction: When inviting play or participation, create the flow to the cohort/group, not to freestyle+. “Tell the group” vs “Tell us”.

Simple: NO more than 4 sentences. Make it short and sweet.

Timespan / Socializations: The first couple weeks will require setting up expectations and as the full cohort plays out, we can slowly ease up on these setups. Ex: First week: It’s Wednesday which means it’s time for Game of the Week! <insert GOTW Gif> vs. Tenth Week: <insert GOTW Gif>

Voice:

Focus on the participant receiving the learning framework rather than noting that *we* are delivering the information. A restaurant doesn’t present the meal saying, “I, as chef, am bringing you this meal.” Make it personal, not a corporate formula.

DO: “When you do this exercise, you may feel foolish at first..”

DON’T: “We at freestyle+ like to practice…”

Avoid telegraphing or projecting feelings or experiences onto the user. Similarly, be authentic about what the experience was that they went through. Avoid saying retroactively that they, or we all, had fun.

Let them HAVE FUN, don’t tell them what they are going to experience.

Let the user have a blast; don’t say they will have one.

Avoid teaching or lecturing the participant, these are not blurbs from a book on improv - instead, allow the participant to draw their own conclusions from examples, Calls to Action (CTA), and gentle nudges (maximum of 2 sentences of a “lesson” and to provoke an a-ha moment, not dish one out).

Think of this Cohort channel like the freestyle+ #team channel, how would you describe the voice that comes from any individual in the company that goes out to the entire collective?

We are speaking to the individual

Do: “Have you ever noticed..”

Don’t: “Everyone think for a second…

YET, all are present.

Do: “For everyone that…”

Don’t: “Hey, have you ever….”

Formatting:

Look at each post with a beginner’s mind - are YOU interested in reading or would you scroll past?

Break up all blocks of text

Short sentences - condense, consolidate, and get to the point

Use Bulleted lists if necessary

Use (but don’t overuse) bold, underline or italics

In most cases it makes the most sense to post the image at the top of the message as to not bury the message, CTA or GOTW

Use of Emojis:

DO use them sparingly and with purpose

DO NOT use them in place of a word or randomly string them at the end of a post.

DO use them to draw attention ie: as in the purpose of bullet points

DO NOT always use them as an unintentional CTA-respond-to-this-post-with-an-emoji.

Use of GIFS:

DO use gifs that align with the messaging or act to emphasize the messaging

DO use them if they are well-known, neutral, or cleverly enhance the message

DO NOT use the pre-packaged generic royalty-free ones

DO NOT select ones with jarring moving images

DO NOT choose ones that distract from the text

Beginning of message:

A short question is an excellent way to draw attention quickly

Conversationally greet and speak with the user.

Avoid slang, pop culture references, “yo”, “bro”, and “y’all” (we have a global audience)

Use words like: Hi! Welcome back! Hello! (let the companion color with their style)

Acknowledge where they are in their journey (beginning vs. end of week, day after kickoff vs. day before closing, etc.).

As we get further into the journey, you can assume the reader knows certain things; i.e. it’s Whimsical Wednesday - we are going to play a game (see above “Timespan”)

Other Helpful hints:

Connect to the Theme of the Week and/or previous events of interest (videos, Cohort Connects, Kickoff, a shared video, etc.)

This doc is a work in progress so below this line, feel free to add!

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