HANDSHAKE BRAND GUIDELINES 2021 11 Messaging Our brand voice should reflect Handshake’s brand attributes. How we communicate externally determines our relationship with our audience. Handshake’s Voice Handshake helps all users take meaningful action towards their goals. We invite them to look ahead towards building a great career, team, and future. That’s why we speak like an experienced, no-nonsense, but compassionate partner to each of our users. We treat every student seriously. We treat every employer and education partner professionally. We want to educate all parties without being patronizing or confusing. Using supportive humor and a conversational voice, we play with language to help break the ice and put users at ease. We prefer the subtle over the noisy, the wry over the farcical. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we do take our work seriously. Whether people know exactly what they’re looking for or don’t know the first thing about the job or candidate search, every word we say informs and encourages. We impart our expertise with clarity and empathy.