Writing Tips

Whether you're writing an email, creating a flyer, or sharing news about your department, clear and consistent communication helps strengthen Southern's message. These tips will help you create effective materials that reflect the university's voice and identity. 

For more detailed guidance, check the  Visual Identity Standards Guide and the Writing Style Guide.

Tips for Effective Writing

• Know your audience. Write with the intended reader in mind, using language and details that are meaningful to them.
• Lead with the most important information. Make the main message clear from the beginning.
• Connect to Southern's mission and values. When relevant, help readers understand the larger purpose or impact behind an activity, program, or accomplishment.
• Be clear and concise. Avoid unnecessary jargon, long sentences, and wordiness.
• Verify your information. Check names, titles, dates, statistics, and other details rather than assuming they are accurate.

• Use the full name Southern Adventist University on first reference.
• On subsequent references, use Southern or the university.
• Never use SAU.

Names and Titles

• On first reference, use a person's full name and appropriate identifying information. On subsequent references, use their last name (exceptions are noted in the Writing Style Guide).
• Employees are identified by their job title. Capitalize titles when they precede a name, but lowercase them when they follow a name. Do not place long titles before a person’s name.
• Students are identified by their class standing and major. Jill Brown, sophomore biology major, attended the event.
• Alumni are identified by their graduation year. Luke Evans, ’13, wrote an article for Columns.
• When listing credentials after a person’s name in a sentence, include only terminal degrees. Terminal degrees should be listed after graduation year. Beth Thomas, ’04, PhD, gave a rousing presentation.
• Do not use the courtesy title “Dr.” in front of a person’s name, not even for medical professionals.
• Proper names of Southern’s schools and departments should be capitalized.

Phone Numbers

• Use periods in Southern’s phone numbers instead of hyphens or parentheses. Southern’s toll-free number is 1.800.SOUTHERN.

Bulleted Lists

• Use a colon to introduce a bulleted list unless the sentence introducing the list is complete and each item in the list is a complete sentence. 
• Don’t use a colon to introduce a bulleted list underneath a heading (such as these bulleted lists).
• Do not punctuate or capitalize partial sentences in lists.
• Keep list items consistent in structure. For example, if the first bullet begins with a verb, the others should too.

Readability

• Use emphasis sparingly. Avoid underlining or using all capital letters, which can make text harder to read. Use bold or italics selectively to highlight important information.
• Make text easy to scan. Use headings, bulleted lists, and thoughtful alignment to help readers find important information quickly. Avoid centering large blocks of text.

Fonts used in Southern materials

• Roboto
• Goudy Oldstyle
• New Icon Serif
• New Icon Script
• Atlanta College
• Lovely Stories