Analysis and commentary on the business of technology

The Bay Table

Style guide

Clear writing is a courtesy to the reader. These are the rules every piece in The Bay Table is written to.

  1. Voice

    We are unsigned, and the institution speaks as “we”, never “I”. The tone is dry, confident and plain. Each piece argues for something: it ends having taken a position, and it says what the position is.

    Short sentences are preferred, with the occasional long one for rhythm. We assume a clever reader in a hurry, explain jargon once and in passing, and choose the short word over the long one (use, not utilise; buy, not acquire) unless the long one is more exact.

    Irony is aimed at ideas, firms and policies, never at private individuals. Where the other side has a good argument, we state it in its strongest form and then answer it.

  2. Structure

    A piece runs to 600-900 words. It has a section label, a short headline, a one-sentence rubric that says plainly what is argued, an opening that earns the second sentence, the argument with its strongest counter-argument, and a closing line that turns the point rather than repeating it. Where data exist, one chart; at the foot, a numbered list of sources.

    Headlines run to two to five words, are never questions and never use a colon. The rubric carries the plain meaning, so the headline may play.

  3. Spelling

    We use British spelling: analyse, favour, programme, organisation, per cent. In prose we write “America” rather than “US”, except in compounds such as US-China.

  4. Numbers

    Spell out one to nine; use figures for 10 and up. Money is written $3bn and $40m, and percentages as 2.5%. Where a number is spelt out, “per cent” follows.

    Every number is compared with something: last year, a rival, the size of the economy. A bare number is trivia. In prose we round sensibly (“nearly $3bn”, “about a third”) and leave exact figures to the chart or the source note.

  5. Dates

    Dates are written in full, month first, with an ordinal and no comma: October 21st 2026. We avoid “recently” and “this week” unless a date accompanies them. Every piece is written as of its date and shows no knowledge of later events.

  6. Names and titles

    A person is named in full once, with a role. After that, Mr, Ms or Dr and the surname. Firms take the singular: “Nvidia has”, not “Nvidia have”.

    Attribution is by source, not by adjective. We write “according to a filing”, not “reportedly”. Quotes come only from the public record.

  7. Abbreviations

    An abbreviation is spelt out on first use unless every reader would know it, then used alone: the Federal Trade Commission, then the FTC. Common units are abbreviated without full stops: bn, m, kg, km.

  8. Sources

    Every figure, quote and claim carries a numbered note, linked to a primary or first-rank source. If a fact cannot be verified, we cut it. The full rules are set out in our editorial standards.

  9. Words we do not use

    Hype and filler are the enemy of the argument. The following do not appear in our pages.

    • game-changer
    • revolutionary
    • disrupt
    • unprecedented
    • delve
    • landscape
    • navigate
    • leverage, as a verb
    • robust
    • seamless
    • in today’s world

    Nor do we use intensifiers such as “very”, “incredibly” or “massive”, exclamation marks, or openings that clear the throat before saying anything. Where an adjective is doing the work, a number usually does it better.