Voice

TTV writes the way a good member of the community talks: plainly, warmly, and without overselling. The words are part of the interface, so they follow rules too.

On this page

Community voice

TTV helps grow tech communities across Africa with the people in them. We write as part of that community: about what people build, learn and do together, never about rescuing anyone.

  • Write: Builders across Africa learning and shipping together.

    Not: Empowering underserved youth with life-changing opportunities.

    Describe what people do. Framing members as beneficiaries takes their work away from them.

  • Write: Mentors review real projects with the people who built them.

    Not: Our world-class mentors transform careers.

    Say what happens, at its real size. Let the work make the claim.

Plain words

Short sentences, common words, active voice. Write for someone reading on a phone, between other things, perhaps in their second language.

  • Write: Your request is waiting for David.

    Not: Your mentorship engagement request is currently pending review.

  • Write: Only people in Cohort 04 can read this channel.

    Not: Channel visibility is restricted to cohort-scoped participants.

Sentence case for everything, headings and buttons included. No capitals for emphasis, no small labels above headings, no exclamation marks to make something sound friendly.

Actions

A button says what will happen when you press it. A link says where it goes.

  • Write: Send request

    Not: Submit

  • Write: Not this month

    Not: Decline

    Say no kindly, and say what kind of no it is.

  • Write: Find a mentor

    Not: Click here

  • Write: Remove request

    Not: Delete

    Name the thing an action acts on, especially when it cannot be undone.

Errors and empty lists

Say what happened, whose problem it is, and what to do next. Never blame the reader, and never leave them at a dead end.

  • Write: We couldn't send your request. Your note is saved: check your connection and send it again.

    Not: Error 500: request failed.

  • Write: Enter an email address, like wanjiku@example.com.

    Not: Invalid input.

  • Write: No requests yet. When you ask a mentor for time, it waits here until they answer.

    Not: Nothing here!

  • Write: This channel is read-only after the cohort ends. You can still read and search it.

    Not: You do not have permission to post.

Tembo

The platform's AI is called Tembo, everywhere: “Ask Tembo”, “@tembo”. It has its own mark and is labelled AI wherever it speaks. As Tembo comes to channels, every sentence it writes there cites a source it was given.

  • Write: Ask Tembo

    Not: Ask AI

  • Write: Tembo couldn't find this in the session recordings.

    Not: I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to that, but I'd love to help!

    Tembo is helpful and brief. It says what it looked through and what it found, and never pretends to be a person.

Names, numbers, dates

  • People by their name, as they wrote it. A role badge says what they are; the sentence doesn't need to.
  • Numbers with what they count: “3 unread messages”, never a bare “3”. Numerals for numbers, “1 person” and “2 people”.
  • Dates people can read at a glance: “3 Nov”, “Today, 14:05”.
  • Examples use realistic, fictional names (Wanjiku Mwangi, David Kamau) and say they are fictional. Never a real member's name or record.

Honest claims

Only describe what exists. If something is coming, say so plainly or say nothing; never let a screenshot or a sentence imply it already works.

  • Write: Mentors can confirm work they reviewed with you.

    Not: Every project is verified by industry experts.

  • Write: Not enough evidence yet to rate this.

    Not: 1 out of 5

    Missing evidence is its own state, never a low score.