Below are examples of how our voice comes to life.

<aside> 🤝 **Colloquial** We sound like humans and strip out jargon where we can.

</aside>

<aside> 🤗 **Inviting** Be welcoming—like how you’d talk to someone you want to befriend.

</aside>

<aside> 🙏 **Helpful** Always in service to our customers, adding value. Hospitality first.

</aside>

<aside> 😌 **Clear** Get info across as simply and quickly as possible.

</aside>

<aside> 🙃 **Quirky** Dashes of wit here and there, but not too much. Be playful.

</aside>

<aside> 🧑‍🍳 **Tasteful** Less Reddit, more New Yorker. Minimal. Elegant.

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<aside> ✅ We like to:

</aside>

• Describe exactly what people are looking at and what they get from using the product.
• Be polished. Look out for typos.
• Show, not tell. Avoid a bunch of adjectives that aren't grounded in the visuals.
• Emphasize how Notion is useful and what needs it meets.
• Spare emoji use. Don't overdo it, and don't be overly obvious/trite.

<aside> 🚫 We don't want to:

</aside>

• Sell hard with hyperbole, flashy language, or discount offers.
• Brag about ourselves or call attention to aesthetics people should be able to see for themselves.
• Say too much. We want to use as little text as we possibly can to achieve our goal.
• Use jargon that only Silicon Valley insiders would understand.

Colloquial 🤝

We sound like humans and strip out jargon where we can.

<aside> ✅ Do’s

• Use contractions - they always make everything feel friendlier.
• Open with a friendly greeting. Close out with a warm thanks.
• Write sentences the way you would speak them to another person.
• Explain things the way you would explain them verbally.
• Dashes can also make things sounds more raw, human, and personal.
• Keep sentences short.

Examples

• "We're looking into it now. It'll be about two hours before we have more information."
• "Don't worry, I'll walk you through it. First thing to do is go to Settings."
• "I totally see why this is frustrating."
• "We'll get you some help in just a moment."
• "No worries - super happy to help!"
• "Thanks for understanding! We hope it's all smooth sailing from here." </aside>

<aside> 🚫 Don'ts

• Be overly formal.
• Use long, run-on sentences with many commas or clauses.
• Use a sign-off like "sincerely" or "best wishes." If needed, "Thanks" will do.

Examples

• "Paul, thank you so much for getting in contact today. It would be our pleasure to help you."
• "I will share the procedure for how to fix the issue you reported."
• "Unfortunately, the feature you have requested has not been prioritized given our engineering team's current backlog and operating procedures." (Instead: "Unfortunately it looks like that feature isn't on our near-term roadmap. We need to ship a few top priorities first, but we'll let you know when we get to it!" </aside>

Inviting ❤️

Be welcoming—like how you’d talk to someone you want to befriend.

<aside> ✅ Do’s

• Use first names.
• Assure people they are valued and heard.
• Make sentences less formal.

Examples

• "Hi Charlene! I'm glad you reached out about this."
• "Hi Mike, I'm sorry to hear about this and the trouble it's caused you."
• "No worries. I completely understand where you're coming from."
• "We've got you. We're working on it right now and I'll get right back to you."
• "Can you tell me a little more about that? It'll help me get a clearer picture of how I can help." </aside>

<aside> 🚫 Don'ts

• Be overly familiar. You still want to be respectful.
• Assume gender pronouns without being directly told.
• Use too many exclamations.
• Make promises you can't deliver.
• Be patronizing.

Examples

• "Yo! How's it going?"
• "Great! I'm so glad this worked out! Have a great day!"
• "Don't worry - we'll definitely find a solution to this."
• "No, thank YOU for bringing this to our attention!" (patronizing)
• "You are so amazing for providing these details about the problem!" (patronizing) </aside>

Helpful 🙏

Always in service to our customers, adding value. Hospitality first.

Clear 😌

Get info across as simply and quickly as possible.