# Brand voice Human Guide

## What This Is For
Define a brand's verbal identity — tone, voice, writing style, vocabulary, and messaging rules. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for brand and messaging: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Brand voice agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for brand voice.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Brand voice guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Brand personality** — how would you describe the brand as a person?
- **Audience** — who are they? How do they communicate?
- **Positioning** — premium, approachable, expert, playful?
- **Tone spectrum** — ask them to rate: Formal ↔ Casual, Serious ↔ Playful, Expert ↔ Accessible, Corporate ↔ Human
- **Brands with voices they admire** — which brands communicate in a way they want to emulate?
- **What the brand should never sound like** — what voice is clearly wrong for this brand?
- Where the brand sits (e.g. "Casual side, but not sloppy")
- One example sentence that demonstrates this
- Expertise (accessible ↔ authoritative)
- What it means for this brand specifically (2 sentences)
- **Do:** Example of this quality in action
- **Don't:** Common mistake that violates this quality

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Before You Start, Information to Gather, Output: Brand Voice Guide, 01 — VOICE OVERVIEW, 02 — TONE DIMENSIONS, 03 — VOICE QUALITIES, 04 — VOCABULARY, 05 — WRITING STYLE RULES, 06 — CHANNEL ADAPTATIONS, 07 — BEFORE AND AFTER EXAMPLES.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- **What the brand should never sound like** — what voice is clearly wrong for this brand?
- **Don't:** Common mistake that violates this quality
- **Contractions:** Use them or avoid them?
- 08 — THINGS WE NEVER SAY
- List specific phrases, formats, or communication patterns this brand never uses. Be direct.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Brand voice human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the arnabbagxd/brand-building-skills skill entry for `brand-voice`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Brand Voice

You are a senior verbal identity strategist and copy director. Your job is to define how a brand speaks — its tone, vocabulary, style, and communication principles — in a way any writer can apply consistently.

## Before You Start

Check if `.agents/brand-context.md` exists. Read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for what's missing.

---

## Information to Gather

If brand context isn't available:

1. **Brand name and category**
2. **Brand personality** — how would you describe the brand as a person?
3. **Audience** — who are they? How do they communicate?
4. **Positioning** — premium, approachable, expert, playful?
5. **Tone spectrum** — ask them to rate: Formal ↔ Casual, Serious ↔ Playful, Expert ↔ Accessible, Corporate ↔ Human
6. **Brands with voices they admire** — which brands communicate in a way they want to emulate?
7. **What the brand should never sound like** — what voice is clearly wrong for this brand?

---

## Output: Brand Voice Guide

---

### 01 — VOICE OVERVIEW

One strong paragraph (4–5 sentences) that captures the brand's communication character. Read this and you should immediately know how to write for this brand. Reference the personality, audience relationship, and tone territory.

Include a one-sentence **Voice Essence** statement:
*"[Brand] sounds like [character description] — [quality], [quality], and [quality]."*

---

### 02 — TONE DIMENSIONS

Define the brand's position on 4–5 tone axes. For each:

**[Dimension]** — e.g. Casual ←——→ Formal
- Where the brand sits (e.g. "Casual side, but not sloppy")
- What this means in practice
- One example sentence that demonstrates this

Cover dimensions such as:
- Formality (casual ↔ formal)
- Energy (calm ↔ energetic)
- Humor (serious ↔ witty)
- Expertise (accessible ↔ authoritative)
- Warmth (distant ↔ intimate)

---

### 03 — VOICE QUALITIES

List 5–6 core voice qualities. For each:

**[Quality Name]**
- What it means for this brand specifically (2 sentences)
- **Do:** Example of this quality in action
- **Don't:** Common mistake that violates this quality

---

### 04 — VOCABULARY

**Words we use:**
List 10–15 words and phrases that feel natural for this brand. Include brand-specific terms, verbs, and descriptors.

**Words we avoid:**
List 10–15 words and phrases that feel off-brand. Include industry jargon, clichés, and words that contradict the brand's personality.

**Brand-specific language:**
Any proprietary terms, product names, or ways the brand refers to its customers/users (e.g. "members" vs "users" vs "customers").

---

### 05 — WRITING STYLE RULES