Conversational style

Pattern
Examples

What is it?

Conversational style is a writing style that differs from customary contract prose. Instead of being formal and impersonal, it makes a contract sound more like a conversation. Instead of calling the parties by their official names or their roles, let alone calling them “the party of the first part” and “the party of the second part”, it can call them “you” and “we” or “us”.

What problems does it solve?

Contract readers can find conventional contract prose unfriendly and impersonal, even alienating. For some people, contract text seems to have been written by lawyers for lawyers. They may find that it is not intended for them, and so decide not to read. If contracts remain unread, unintentional non-compliance and loss of rights may follow. Despite your best intentions, if the contract makes your organization sound frightening or unfriendly, you may build mistrust and suspicion.

When to use it?

Conversational style has made its way to business-to-consumers and employment contracts, but it does not have to be limited to these; it can be used in commercial and public sector contracting as well. It is especially suitable in contexts where negotiations take place among people who are not lawyers familiar with conventional contract styles – for example, if one of the parties is an SME or a startup.

Why use it?

Conversation style can help make contracts look and feel more straightforward and business-friendly, and less like legal weapons. Most of today’s contracts are written in legal-speak. They all look and feel the same, with no personality or humor found in them. If your organization wants to portray an image of someone who speaks and listens like humans do, you may find that adopting a conversational contract writing style can make a major difference. It can help you frame your relationships and their terms so that you stand out from the crowd, in a good way.

Where to use it?

Contract documents
Contract guides and playbooks
Training materials
Meetings
Policies

Pattern families

Tone of voice

Example 1

BuzzSumo's terms of service

The BuzzSumo terms use a conversational tone in the summaries accompanying each clause. They are written in plain language, and even show a hint of humor.

Source: www.buzzsumo.com/terms-conditions

Example 2

Juro's privacy policy

Juro's privacy policy conveys a conversational tone of voice by using "we" and "you" to identify the parties, short sentences, and everyday language.

Source: Juro's Privacy Policy

Example 3

Retrofit works for home-owners

This contract is for small scale retrofit works by a cooperative company for individual home-owners. The conversational style is intended to ensure the client reads and understands the terms on which the consultant will be acting, without putting the client off by being too legal or formal. It reflects the tone of voice of the cooperative and is consistent with their marketing materials.

Example 4

Conversational tone in a B2B construction contract

All the content (including the legal conditions) for this short form construction contract were written in 'you' and 'we' style. This had been adopted and used with previous consumer contracts from the same trade association. It was extended to the business to business contracts for consistency. It was carefully structured and phrased to minimise confusion between 'we' (singular) meaning the contractor, and 'we' (plural) meaning both parties. The client was the UK's largest construction trade association and the contracts are available only to members (2019).

© 2018 Federation of Master Builders. Used with permission.
Layout: Robert Hempsall. Content: Sarah Fox and Federation of Master Builders

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