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
colour	color
centre	center
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”
• “it should be noted”

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 and tone. Full detail in the working source.

Audience	Register	Key principle
gateway	Peer-to-peer technical	Operator-to-operator. Assumes infrastructure competence
orchestrator	Peer-to-peer technical	Operator-to-operator. Lead with what the orchestrator gets
developer	Professional engineering	Engineer-to-engineer. Show, don’t explain basics
builder	Professional engineering	Focus on integration, not fundamentals
delegator	Informed participant	Empowering, not condescending. Numbers before narrative
community	Peer-to-community	Accessible without dumbing down. Value through clarity
founder	Strategic executive	High-level, outcome-oriented. Business impact first

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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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