The North voice

Introduction

Our voice is how we sound in every sentence: on a slide, in an error message, in a reply to a minister. It is the same calm, clear North, whoever is writing.

Our customers handle confidential work and make decisions that affect many people. They have no time for hype and no tolerance for vagueness. So we write the way a trusted senior adviser talks: plainly, precisely and with quiet confidence.

Voice and tone

One voice, many tones

Voice is our personality. It never changes. Tone is how that personality adapts to the moment: more technical in documentation, warmer in a welcome email, more careful in an incident notice.

Think of a respected colleague. They sound like themselves whether they are presenting to a board or helping a new joiner, but they don't speak to both in exactly the same way.

VoiceTone
Changes?NeverWith the moment
Set byWho we areWho we're talking to and how they feel
ExampleCalm and preciseReassuring in an outage, crisp in release notes

Our brand traits

Four traits shape everything we write.

Clear

  • Short sentences, active voice, plain words.
  • Say what happens, who does it and when.
  • One idea per sentence; one message per piece.
Yes

NorthStar checks your licence every 15 minutes. If it can't reach Admiral, it keeps working for 48 hours.

No

NorthStar leverages a robust, periodic entitlement-validation mechanism to ensure seamless continuity.

Calm

  • No exclamation marks in product or formal writing.
  • No hype: “revolutionary”, “game-changing”, “magic”.
  • Name risks plainly, then say what we do about them.
Yes

Classified analyses never go to a public model. If no on-premises model is available, Shaheen stops and tells you.

No

Don't panic! Our amazing AI keeps your secrets 100% safe, guaranteed!!

Precise

  • Use exact numbers, names and terms.
  • Don't claim what we can't prove.
  • Use our product names correctly every time.
Yes

Uploaded files are stored as AES-256-GCM encrypted blobs.

No

Your files are protected by military-grade, bank-level encryption.

Human

  • Write to one person: “you” and “we”.
  • Use contractions: “you'll”, “we're”, “it's”.
  • Put the person in command; the AI assists.
Yes

Mai drafts the reply. You decide whether to send it.

No

The AI autonomously handles your correspondence end to end.

Our writing principles

PrincipleWhat it means
Start with the answerLead with the conclusion, the action or the benefit. Context comes second.
Reader firstAsk “what does this person need to know or do?” Cut everything else.
Plain over cleverIf a simpler word works, use it. No puns on serious topics.
Show, then tellA concrete example beats an adjective: “runs on your servers” beats “sovereign”.
Humans in commandAI suggests, drafts, analyses. People decide, approve, send. Write it that way.
Respect the reader's timeShorter is kinder. Edit once for sense, once for length.

Words we use with care

Talking about AI

  • Agents draft, analyse, suggest, prepare. People approve, decide, send.
  • Don't give AI feelings or intentions: it doesn't “think”, “want” or “understand”.
  • Avoid “autonomous” unless we mean it and explain the limits.
  • Say which model runs where: “on your on-premises model”, “on an approved cloud model”.
Yes

Mai prepared three draft replies for you to review.

No

Mai thought about your emails and decided to reply.

Yes

Shaheen ran six specialist lenses on your sources.

No

Our AI brain digested your data.

Talking about security and sovereignty

  • Explain the mechanism, not just the promise.
  • Never say “100% secure”, “unhackable” or “guaranteed”.
  • Use “on-premises” (with the s), “residency”, “sovereign” precisely and consistently.
Yes

Desks never hold provider keys. Every model call goes through your NorthStar Admiral Server.

No

NorthStar is completely unhackable.

Tone by channel

ChannelToneExample
Product UIBrief, direct, helpful“Review and send” · “Licence expires in 9 days”
DocumentationPrecise, structured, neutral“An operator creates the user in NorthStar Admiral Desktop and issues a licence.”
Government proposalsFormal, respectful, evidence-led“The pilot keeps all data within the Department's infrastructure.”
Marketing and webConfident, warm, concrete“Your desk. Your data. Your models.”
SocialConversational, one idea“Mai now asks before it acts.”
Support and incidentsCalm, honest, specific“Sign-in is failing for some users since 09:40. We're working on it; next update at 10:30.”
InternalFriendly, direct“Thanks, team. Here's what shipped this week.”

Writing in Arabic

Arabic copy is written natively, not translated, by and for Arabic readers. Tone, forms of address, UI copy, the Arabic glossary and the review workflow are on Writing in Arabic.

UI writing

Microcopy that helps

  • Buttons say exactly what happens: “Send 3 emails”, not “Submit”.
  • Keep an action's name through the flow: “Publish” → “Published”.
  • Errors explain what happened and how to fix it. No blame, no apology, no jargon.
  • Empty states invite the next action.
Yes

Couldn't reach NorthStar Admiral Server. Check your network, then try again.

No

Error 0x80042: Request failed.

Yes

No analyses yet. Start one from a file or an organisation.

No

Nothing to see here!

Dos and don'ts

Do

  • Lead with the answer.
  • Use active voice and contractions.
  • Use exact numbers and product names.
  • Keep people in command of the AI.

Don't

  • Use hype, exclamation marks or emoji in formal writing.
  • Overclaim: “100%”, “guaranteed”, “unhackable”.
  • Hide behind jargon or acronyms.
  • Write as if the AI were a person.

Last updated on 14 October 2026