If our messaging is what we say, our voice and tone refer to how we say it. These guidelines inform how we write and express Notion's brand across platforms.
<aside> 🤝 Colloquial We sound like humans and strip out jargon where we can.
</aside>
<aside> 🙂 Quirky Dashes of wit here and there, but not too much. Be playful.
</aside>
<aside> 🙏 Helpful Always in service to our customers, adding value. Hospitality first.
</aside>
<aside> 🤗 Inviting Be welcoming—like how you’d talk to someone you want to befriend.
</aside>
<aside> ☝️ Clear Get info across as simply and quickly as possible.
</aside>
<aside> 🧑🍳 Tasteful Less Reddit, more New Yorker. Minimal. Elegant.
</aside>
<aside> 💭 How do these work in practice? Here are some examples.
</aside>
<aside> ⚫ Keep it short and succinct. Use pithy, direct sentences. Pick the simplest or shortest word for the job.
</aside>
<aside> ⚫ Make it conversational. How would you say it to a friend? Use contractions. "You" and "we." Real dialogue.
</aside>
<aside> ⚫ Be ruthless in your editing. Cut unnecessary words, particularly adjectives. Break up multiple clauses.
</aside>
<aside> ⚫ Choose the unexpected route. Do something else. Consider how to break through the noise. Like this.
</aside>
<aside> ⚫ Respect our audience's intelligence. No need for goofy, broad humor (or GIFs). Imagine a furniture designer who appreciates quirk and wit. Write to them.
</aside>
<aside> ⚫ Write in the user's voice. Describe the product as they understand it, not how we talk about it internally. Instead of “app permissions,” what would they say?
</aside>
<aside> ⚫ Don’t rely on shared cultural knowledge. Our customers live all over the world. A cultural reference in the US might not translate to another country—and vice versa!
</aside>