A brief guide

to writing for
Ernst & Young
Second edition
January 2010
Visit the Writing toolkit at The Branding Zone:
http://brandingzone.ey.net
2010 EYGM Limited.
All Rights Reserved.
How can my writing enhance
our brand?
Be clear why youre writing and who your
readers are
Give your readers the information they need and use
language they understand.
Make sure your structure is clear and logical
Think before you write. Use mindmaps and storyboards
to work out structure and content, before drafting. See
the Writing toolkit on The Branding Zone for some model
structures. Guide your reader with descriptive titles,
headings and subheads.
Become more conscious of the way you write
and what good writing is
Look at your writing through the eyes of the reader. Is it
doing its job effectively? Be more analytical about all the
writing you read, whether business writing, newspapers,
novels or even poetry.
Challenge the idea that the way that EY has always
written is the right way to write
Lawyers, accountants and consultants are famed
for their formal, opaque, heavy prose. But its not
necessarily what our clients want.
Expect to rework and hone your text
Writing is an iterative process and even the most
accomplished writers spend a lot of time crafting and
refning their text. When refning your text, concentrate
on structure, content and language. Check that your
fow is logical, your facts correct and your sentences
clearly expressed. Be prepared to rewrite completely.
Remember: the best editor is a radical editor.
Writing clearly key points
Write your verbs in the active, not passive, form
Active voice: EY carried out the audit.
Passive voice: The audit was carried out by EY.
Prefer verbs to nouns
Noun: The organization of the event was done by John.
Verb: John organized the event.
Use you and we
By using personal pronouns you create a sense
of connection with our reader.
Keep sentences short and simple in structure
Aim for an average of 1520 words. Some sentences
will, by necessity, be longer. And by varying sentence
length you create interest for the reader.
Use everyday words
buy not purchase, use not utilize,
help not assist
Remove redundant words
Dont repeat yourself. Cut out unnecessary adjectives
and adverbs. Less is more.
This document gives a brief overview of our complete
verbal identity guidance. Visit the Writing toolkit on
The Branding Zone where youll fnd The style guide
and Strengthening our brand through words, as well
as lots of other resources to help you write more
clearly and powerfully.
Our top style tips
Abbreviations, acronyms and initialisms: 1
Write out in full in the frst instance and use the
abbreviation thereafter. Dont use periods.
Ampersands: 2 Use the ampersand symbol [&]
for Ernst & Young, global industry centers and
acronyms. Dont use ampersands instead of the
word and in a sentence.
Bold: 3 Use bold for emphasis. Avoid underlining.
Bullet points: 4 Use bullet point lists to convey
features, benefts, steps or tips. Introduce your list
of bullet points with a statement ending in a colon.
Make your bullet points consistent in structure
reword to avoid using a mix of sentences, fragments
or questions. Start each bullet with a capital letter.
If theyre complete sentences, end each one with
a period. If theyre fragments, dont use any periods.
Capitalization: 5 Write publication titles, subtitles,
headings and subheads in sentence case (capitalize
frst word only). Capitalize proper nouns see The
style guide for what we mean by proper noun. Dont
capitalize of, the, a, for, etc.
Collective nouns: 6 Treat collective nouns as singular,
if acting as a single body (The team was successful
in delivering the project). If the emphasis is on the
group as a number of individuals, treat them as
plural (Management are ready and willing to act).
Commas: 7 Dont use a comma before the fnal
and or or in a series of items within a sentence.
However, you can use a fnal comma in a sentence
if it helps clarify the meaning.
Compounds and hyphenation: 8 Follow the usage in
Merriam-Websters Unabridged Collegiate Dictionary
you can fnd the online version in the Writing
toolkit on The Branding Zone. If youre using a
compound that isnt given, include a hyphen.
Currencies: 9 Make it clear which countrys currency
is being referred to use an identifer, if necessary.
Abbreviate billion to b and million to m.
Dates and times: 10 Write out dates as day, month
and year (12 December 2009). Use the 24-hour
clock as your frst choice. But you can also use a.m.
and p.m. just make sure youre consistent.
Ernst & Young name: 11 Write Ernst & Young in full
in all external documents. Unless theres a legal
reason not to, use Ernst & Young in the frst
instance and we thereafter. Abbreviate to EY
in internal documents and on external charts and
diagrams. Never use the abbreviation E&Y.
Italics: 12 Use italics in text to add emphasis or
infection to a word or phrase. Italicize the names
of books, magazines and newspapers when referring
to them in publications.
Numbers: 13 Write out numbers in full in text, up to
and including the number nine. From 10 onwards,
write as numerals, except at the beginning of a
sentence. Use numerals when referring to chapter,
section and page numbers (page 5).
Percentages: 14 Always use digits when referring
to percentages, and the percentage symbol (%) rather
than the word percent. But if starting a sentence
with a percentage, write out in full (Eighty-nine
percent said they benefted). Use an en dash when
referring to a range of percentages (8%10%).
Spelling: 15 Use US spelling in global communications,
but UK spelling for in-country writing where
UK English is used. Refer to Merriam-Websters
Unabridged Collegiate Dictionary you can
fnd the online version in the Writing toolkit
on The Branding Zone.
For more detail and explanation, see The style guide.