LinkedIn Post Generation

Before You Start

1. Check for brand voice: Read brand/VOICE.md if it exists. Adapt the brand voice for LinkedIn's professional-but-personal tone. If no voice file exists, default to professional, authentic, and insight-driven.

2. Determine post type: Choose the format that fits the content:

   • Personal Story -- Lessons from experience (templates/personal-story.template)
   • Professional Insight -- Frameworks, observations, advice (templates/professional-insight.template)
   • Contrarian Take -- Challenging industry assumptions (templates/contrarian-take.template)

3. Gather inputs: Topic, key message, target audience (role/seniority), any data or examples to include.

---

LinkedIn's Unique Culture

LinkedIn sits in a specific cultural space. Understand it before writing:

What works:

• Professional experiences told as personal stories
• Specific, actionable advice grounded in real experience
• Vulnerable honesty about failures and lessons learned
• Frameworks and mental models that help people think
• Data-backed observations about industry trends
• Asking genuine questions that invite thoughtful discussion

What doesn't work:

• Corporate press releases disguised as personal posts
• Vague inspirational platitudes ("Success is a journey, not a destination")
• Humblebragging ("I'm so humbled to announce...")
• Engagement bait without substance ("Agree?" "Thoughts?")
• Reposting motivational quotes with "This." as your commentary
• Multi-paragraph LinkedIn posts that are actually just ads

The core rule: LinkedIn rewards posts that make the reader think, learn, or reflect. If your post does none of these, rewrite it.

---

Post Structure

LinkedIn's algorithm and reading experience reward a specific structure:

Hook Line (First 1-2 Lines)

• This is the only thing visible before "...see more"
• It must create enough curiosity or value-promise to earn the click
• Strong hooks: bold claim, surprising observation, specific result, a question
• Weak hooks: "I'm excited to share...", "Big news!", generic statements

Body (Short Paragraphs with White Space)

• Keep paragraphs to 1-3 sentences max
• Use line breaks between paragraphs (LinkedIn's mobile experience demands white space)
• One idea per paragraph
• Build toward your main insight
• Include at least one specific detail: a number, a name, a date, a quote

CTA / Close

• End with a question that invites genuine discussion (not "Agree?")
• Or end with a specific actionable takeaway
• Or end with a forward-looking thought

---

Emoji Usage

LinkedIn has its own emoji culture. Rules:

Acceptable:

• Bullet point substitutes (use sparingly, max 3-5 in a post)
• A single emoji to punctuate a key line
• Section markers in list-heavy posts

Not acceptable:

• Every line starting with an emoji
• Emoji walls or rainbow emoji sequences
• Clapping hands between every word
• Using emojis as a substitute for substance

Default: When in doubt, skip the emojis. Clean text with strong ideas performs better than decorated text with weak ideas.

---

LinkedIn Anti-Slop

These patterns are rampant on LinkedIn. Avoid all of them.

Phrases to Never Write

• "I'm humbled to announce..."
• "I'm thrilled to share..."
• "Agree?"
• "Thoughts?"
• "This." (as a comment on a repost)
• "If you're not doing X, you're falling behind"
• "In today's rapidly changing landscape..."
• "Here's the thing about {topic}..."
• "Let that sink in."
• "Read that again."
• "I don't usually post about this, but..."

Structural Patterns to Avoid

• The "I got fired, and it was the best thing that ever happened" formula (unless it genuinely was, with specific details)
• Fake dialogue posts ("Interviewer: Why should we hire you? Me: Because I...")
• "Day 1 vs Day 365" transformation posts without substance
• Listing obvious advice as if it's revolutionary
• Ending every post with a self-promotional CTA disguised as generosity

What to Do Instead

• Share a specific moment, decision, or observation
• Include details only you would know (this proves authenticity)
• Let the reader draw their own conclusions from your story
• If you have advice, ground it in a concrete experience, not abstract wisdom

---

Brand Voice Adaptation for LinkedIn

See linkedin-voice.md for detailed LinkedIn voice adaptation rules.

Key principles:

• LinkedIn is more personal than a blog but more professional than X/Twitter
• "I" is powerful on LinkedIn; individual perspective outperforms corporate voice
• Technical depth is welcome but must be framed with business or career context
• Storytelling beats instruction

---

Templates

---

Output Checklist

Before delivering a LinkedIn post:

• Hook line earns the "...see more" click
• Paragraphs are short (1-3 sentences) with white space between them
• At least one specific detail (number, name, date, quote)
• No LinkedIn slop phrases (check the full list above)
• Voice is professional but personal (not corporate, not casual)
• Post makes the reader think, learn, or reflect
• Closing invites genuine engagement or delivers a takeaway
• Emoji usage is restrained and purposeful (or absent)
• Length is appropriate: 150-300 words for most posts (LinkedIn penalizes very long posts in the algorithm)
• Brand voice is adapted for LinkedIn's culture

---

Supporting file: linkedin-voice.md

LinkedIn Voice Adaptation Guide

This document explains how to translate a brand's voice profile into LinkedIn-appropriate content.

---

The LinkedIn Tone Spectrum

LinkedIn content lives in a specific register: professional enough to be taken seriously, personal enough to feel human. The platform rewards authenticity and penalizes corporate-speak.

---

Translating Brand Voice to LinkedIn

If the Brand Voice Is Formal

• Drop one formality level for LinkedIn
• Replace third person with first person where appropriate
• Keep the vocabulary precise but make the sentence structure more conversational
• Use contractions
• Maintain authority through insight, not through formal language

If the Brand Voice Is Casual

• Raise one formality level for LinkedIn
• Keep the personality but add professional framing
• Ground opinions in experience and evidence, not just vibes
• Avoid slang that might not translate across industries or cultures

If the Brand Voice Is Technical

• Keep the technical depth (LinkedIn's professional audience appreciates it)
• Add business or career context: why should a non-technical decision-maker care?
• Use analogies to bridge technical concepts for a broader audience
• Lead with the "so what" before going deep

If the Brand Voice Is Warm/Friendly

• This translates well to LinkedIn. Lean into it.
• Add specificity to keep warmth from becoming vagueness
• Use personal anecdotes and name real people (with permission)
• Warmth on LinkedIn means generosity with insights, not cheerfulness

---

The "I" Voice on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the few professional platforms where first person singular is powerful. Guidelines:

When to use "I":

• Sharing personal experiences and lessons learned
• Stating opinions you personally hold
• Describing decisions you made and their outcomes

When to use "we":

• Talking about team or company achievements
• Describing collaborative processes
• Sharing company-level results

When to use "you":

• Giving advice
• Framing insights as directly applicable to the reader
• Asking questions

Default: Start with "I" for the story, shift to "you" for the takeaway.

---

Storytelling on LinkedIn

LinkedIn's algorithm favors posts that keep people reading. Storytelling is the most reliable way to achieve this.

Story Structure for LinkedIn

1. Hook: The most surprising or valuable part of the story (first line)
2. Context: Brief setup (2-3 short paragraphs)
3. Tension: The challenge, conflict, or decision point
4. Resolution: What happened
5. Lesson: The transferable insight

Story Authenticity Markers

• Specific dates, numbers, or names
• Admission of mistakes or uncertainty
• Details only someone who was there would know
• Emotional honesty without melodrama

---

What LinkedIn's Algorithm Rewards

Understanding the platform's incentives helps shape voice:

• Dwell time: Longer reading time signals quality. Write posts worth reading slowly.
• Comments over likes: Posts that generate discussion outperform posts that generate passive likes. End with genuine questions.
• Native content: Text posts and carousels outperform link shares. If sharing a link, add substantial commentary.
• Early engagement: The first hour matters. Write for your most engaged connections first.

---

Voice Consistency Across Platforms

If the user is also creating content for X, blog, or other platforms:

• LinkedIn posts should feel like the same person speaking at a professional conference, not reading from a teleprompter
• The vocabulary can shift between platforms, but the core perspective and personality should remain consistent
• A blog post's insight can become a LinkedIn post, but it needs to be rewritten for the platform, not copy-pasted