Voice and Tone

The voice we use for our products directly represents our company’s identity. As a company dedicated to offering effective methods of managing transactions, people, and finances, our language reflects this commitment through consistency and clarity.

Guidelines

• Be professional, but not overly formal. Our customers take their business seriously, and so do we. However, using an informal tone helps us remain approachable.
• Be honest, genuine, and direct. Our customers have limited time on their hands, so they appreciate courteous but direct communication.
• Use brevity. Think about what you want to say, then say it as simply as possible. Follow the principle of less, but better.
• Avoid unnecessary humor. While lightness can help engage users, be careful about where you use humor as it can be easily misinterpreted or seem frivolous, particularly with financial products.
• Respect the reader’s autonomy. Offer practical advice to customers without being pushy. Avoid using phrases such as “you should,” except where it is used in a non-directive sense. For example, “the updated link should work” is acceptable.
• Avoid using personal pronouns. Unless there is a compelling reason to use the passive voice, refer to customers and clients as “you.” Refer to Heartland as “we.” Avoid pronouns such as “I” and “me.” Avoid using gendered pronouns. When referring to someone in the third person, it is acceptable to use “they” and “them” for both singular and plural cases.
• Avoid absolutes. Words such as all, everyone, nobody, always, and never, often detract from the intended meaning by making assumptions about a situation.
• Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly. Use them to make your meaning more precise, but not to make it more emphatic. Avoid using adjectives like “very” or “really”, and adverbs such as “just” and “simply”.
• Don’t make assumptions about the user’s knowledge or expertise.
  Avoid referring to tasks as “simple” or “easy”. What may be simple for some may not be for others. Likewise, don’t assume that something should work for the user because it works for you. Make efforts to understand their situation instead of making such assumptions.

Active and Passive Voice

Although we recommend using active voice over passive voice whenever possible, which voice to use depends on the situation and context.

We typically use the active voice when providing guidance or instructions, or when communicating ideas and facts. This helps create a conversational tone and allows readers to focus on the subject of a sentence or the action performed by the subject.

Examples of using active voice:

• ✅ - Please enter your address before placing your order.

• ❌ - Your address must be entered before the order is placed.

• ✅ - Customers can complete the purchase process with a few simple steps.

• ❌ - The purchase process can be completed with a few simple steps by customers.

The passive voice is used when we want the reader to focus on the object of a sentence, or on the description of an action rather than on who is performing it.

Examples of using passive voice:

• ✅ - Your order has been placed.
• ❌ - You placed the order.

• ✅ - This document will be permanently deleted. Are you sure?
• ❌ - You will permanently delete this document. Are you sure?