Voice and Copy Standards

Canonical voice and copy rules for all Livepeer documentation. Covers universal rules, per-audience voice extensions, banned words/phrases, and UK English requirements.

Voice and Copy Standards

These standards apply to every page in v2/. No exceptions.

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Language

UK English throughout. Use -ise (not -ize), -our (not -or), -re (not -er).

Use	Not
organise	organize
optimise	optimize
utilise	utilize
customise	customize
analyse	analyze
colour	color
centre	center
fibre	fiber
behaviour	behavior
licence (noun)	license (noun)
defence	defense
catalogue	catalog
programme (non-code)	program (non-code)

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Universal rules

Banned words (remove, do not soften): effectively, essentially, basically, meaningful, significant, real (as intensifier), various, several, obviously, clearly

Banned phrases:

• “This section covers” / “This page covers / explains / walks you through”
• “Understanding X is essential”
• “It is important to note”
• “As mentioned above”
• “and so on” / “etc.”
• “rather than”
• “what it takes”
• “it should be noted”
• “not just X” in value statements
• “can generate” / “may produce” in value claims

Banned constructions:

• not [X] in value statements – state the positive instead
• if [condition] in body prose – resolve the condition
• This page [verb] – delete self-reference
• can/may [verb] in value claims – assert directly

No em dashes. Use commas, semicolons, or separate sentences.

No questions in headings. State the fact. “Configuring the gateway” not “How do I configure the gateway?”

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Opening order

1. Value or outcome before mechanism
2. Fact before caveat
3. Reader benefit before system description

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Paragraph discipline

One paragraph, one job. Lead sentence states the fact. Final sentence ends on fact, number, or next step – never a hedge.

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Per-audience voice extensions

Seven audiences, each with specific register, tone, and lead-with. Full detail in the working source.

Audience	Register	Tone	Lead with
gateway	Peer-to-peer technical	Direct, factual, assumes competence	Output, earnings, routing performance
orchestrator	Operational and technical	Practical, numbers-driven, hardware-specific	Earnings, performance, operational outcomes
developer	SDK/API technical	Precise, code-first, minimal prose	Working code, API responses, integration patterns
builder	Product/platform	Outcome-focused, business-aware	What they can build, time to market
delegator	Financial/staking	Clear, quantified, risk-aware	Returns, selection criteria, staking mechanics
community	Accessible, inclusive	Welcoming, jargon-free where possible	What they can do, how to participate
founder	Strategic, high-level	Concise, data-backed, opportunity-focused	Market opportunity, protocol capabilities

Working source with full per-audience rules: workspace/plan/active/CONTENT-WRITING/Prompts/voice-rules.md Universal copy rules: ai-tools/ai-skills/docs-copy/skills/copy-rules.md

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Heading rules

• No questions in headings. State the fact. “Configuring the gateway” not “How do I configure the gateway?”
• No em dashes anywhere in heading text.
• Lead with fact, end with fact. No reader-journey framing.
• Section headings describe the content, not the reader’s journey.

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Domain terminology

Use	Never
LPT	”tokens”, “crypto”
orchestrator	”miner”, “node” generically
gateway	”API gateway”
active set	”top orchestrators”
reward cut / fee cut	”commission”
probabilistic micropayments	”payments” generically
on-chain / off-chain	payment MODE – never workload type
dual	WORKLOAD config – not a payment type
pool worker	Must be defined at first use on every page