Lumo - so I tried it out...

[Bletchleyite]

It's a discussion forum. People are going to pick up on things they agree/disagree with.

True.

It's fair enough you prefer Sir, Mr Bletchleyite, etc., but I still think your criticism of the conductor is unfair.

For clarity I'm not criticising him, I'm criticising the "corporate voice" as set by FirstGroup. He's just doing his job, part of which is to communicate in a specified corporate tone.

(Another organisation that has a deliberately informal tone is the Scout Association, and I find that quite patronising too; when talking about formal stuff like Trusteeship and rules, a formal tone should in my book be used - I read stuff like "At the Scouts, we've all agreed to report anything that's a risk to young people" and cringe - I'd rather read "If you suspect abuse or another Safeguarding issue, this must be reported by...")

 

[Herefordian]

True.



For clarity I'm not criticising him, I'm criticising the "corporate voice" as set by FirstGroup. He's just doing his job, part of which is to communicate in a specified corporate tone.

(Another organisation that has a deliberately informal tone is the Scout Association, and I find that quite patronising too; when talking about formal stuff like Trusteeship and rules, a formal tone should in my book be used)

Ah, I'm with you now. Apologies.

I do agree an informal corporate tone isn't great. Tacky, almost.

Still, I'll give Lumo a go at some point.

 

[westv]

(Another organisation that has a deliberately informal tone is the Scout Association, and I find that quite patronising too; when talking about formal stuff like Trusteeship and rules, a formal tone should in my book be used - I read stuff like "At the Scouts, we've all agreed to report anything that's a risk to young people" and cringe - I'd rather read "If you suspect abuse or another Safeguarding issue, this must be reported by...")

That's amazing!

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's amazing!

This Forum needs a "haha" button!

 

[Gaelan]

(Another organisation that has a deliberately informal tone is the Scout Association, and I find that quite patronising too; when talking about formal stuff like Trusteeship and rules, a formal tone should in my book be used - I read stuff like "At the Scouts, we've all agreed to report anything that's a risk to young people" and cringe - I'd rather read "If you suspect abuse or another Safeguarding issue, this must be reported by...")

Out of curiosity, how do you feel about the style of prose used on gov.uk? I've found that to be some of the best corporate writing anywhere - clear, not overly formal - but I wonder if you would find it patronizing.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Out of curiosity, how do you feel about the style of prose used on gov.uk? I've found that to be some of the best corporate writing anywhere - clear, not overly formal - but I wonder if you would find it patronizing.

TBH I find it pretty good - it doesn't talk down to you but it is understandable. The only thing I'm not a fan of on gov.uk is the way you have to complete forms one field at a time. I get that that is good for people on phones or inexperienced users, but it could do with a "show me all the questions on one page" option.

Interestingly I know the person who did a lot of the technical work on it!

It doesn't have to be super-formal for me to like it, I don't mind a "cheers" from the guard on scanning my ticket, say (doesn't have to be "Thank you, sir" with a doff of the hat ), it's just more when you have corporate tone that feels unnatural, e.g. the use of superlatives for things that aren't superlative but simply normal, like presenting your train ticket or paying for your shopping. Morrisons, for instance, isn't an honest Northern grocer, it's a corporate supermarket owned by venture capitalists, so I'd rather it just got on with behaving like one and doing stuff like ensuring a good range and keeping prices down, which is what I want from a corporate supermarket.