What Are Translation Style Guides and Why Should Your Company Have One?

Just as there are standardized processes to ensure compliance with deadlines and duties in product development or service provision, there are tools that exist to simplify international communication, such as translation style guides. Because any brand that claims—or aspires—to be global should have a corporate identity that conveys unified messages across different channels and languages. 

We are not implying a limit to creativity or variety in the communicative repertoire; instead, it is about ensuring that everyone who receives your message, wherever they are, understands the same and perceives similar values. 

In the native language, it may not seem so tough to maintain style and voice. Still, the task becomes more challenging when the linguistic transfer takes place. How to ensure cross-language consistency? Is it possible to preserve your brand identity despite the language shift?

If such questions pop into your head from time to time, read on. Below you will find some answers—and some worthwhile tips to sweeten the pot.

What Is a Translation Style Guide?

First, a heads up: If you do not have a translation guide yet, you are going to need one soon. For now, keep reading. You will understand more in a few minutes.

You may already know that many companies rely on style guides to create content and deliver on-brand messages—perhaps you even have one already. They contain all the relevant guidelines to ensure that your company’s communications reflect the vision you seek to portray. They also include some style guides for visual inspiration, as text and visuals should go hand in hand. As an example, could you imagine a Coca-Cola campaign in which the colour palette used is shades of blue? Probably not, because this could look like its competitors.

Something similar happens with translation style guides, with the big difference that not all companies have their own in place, possibly due to unawareness of how important they are and the benefits they can bring. 

On the upside, there is always time to get yours up and running. It is a time investment that will pave the way for your future multilingual messages. You can even edit some of the content you already have accordingly, if possible.

#OptimationalTip: If you rely on translation services, a professional team can guide you through some of the specifications you want to include as style guidelines.

Is It the Same as a Glossary?

Before we go any further, let us get this straight. What we have said so far may sound to you like the creation of a glossary, but it is not the same. Both are practical tools offering multiple benefits in terms of consistency, time reduction, and savings. However, a translation glossary is a compilation of words and phrases and their equivalents in the target language, whereas a translation style guide is a document with specific standards and stylistic preferences that translators should use as guidelines. 

Since both tools contribute to safeguarding the coherence of messages, they are complementary to each other and are instruments that you should fine-tune.

Now it is time to move on… Do you know what type of information you can find in a translation guide? If you are not sure, keep scrolling.

What Should a Translation Guide Contain?

The following items are some of the essentials, but you can expand the list according to convenience and need.

• About the audience: Include all pertinent information about your target audience, those you are reaching or aiming to reach: What is their educational background, interests, age, etc.? What are they looking to obtain by reading your content or using your services and products?
• About style and voice: Every business has an identity, which is shaped by the way it communicates. Does your brand use idioms, jargon, or cultural references? Do you want it to sound persuasive or informative? Is it youthful and relaxed or formal and ready to do business? Which is the purpose of the content? Are you hiring translation services for documents, social media, or training material?
• About language: What linguistic and grammatical conventions do you consider essential to put in writing? For example, the use of inverted and serial commas, capitalisation, etc. Do you have precise instructions in case of ambiguity? What to do about untranslatable terms? 
• About formatting: There is information that admits multiple translation options. I.e. figures, currencies, locations, date format and time zone, units of measurement, etc. You can also include your preferences on the use of bold, italics, authority quotes, headings, etc.
• About your brand: Do you have specific guidelines for your business or industry? Such as specific terminology, product or service names, collections, etc.
• About the design: Include guidelines that concern visual content and that may be relevant to the translation services professional. For example, what do you wish to do with images containing text?

#OptimationalTip: Untranslatable terms are the ones that lack an exact equivalent in the target language. However, there are different techniques to overcome this gap, such as paraphrasing, footnotes, and more.

Bottom Line: Why Do You Need a Translation Style Guide?

Having unravelled the mystery, it only remains for us to highlight why you should have such a guide. But first, let us consider the following scenario. Do you know the feeling you get when you are fixing something temporarily, knowing that soon you will have to deal with the issue again? Surely you do, we have all been there. 

A translation style guide is exactly the opposite. It is a tool that empowers you to deal with that issue, permanently, proactively, and effectively, so that it never becomes a problem. 

With it, you can lay the foundations for improving the quality of your messages and measure the impact they have on your target audience. It also allows you to streamline communications, reduce the margin of error, and eliminate the time it takes for both the translators you work with and your end readers to “guess” what you mean.

You would rather invest a portion of your time wisely in preparing a guide than spend resources on correcting mistakes, responding to endless email chains, or dealing with the frustration of a slow or hampered project.

If you want to get started with your international communication strategy, feel free to contact us today. We have a valuable solution for you.