# TONE.md — `<Brand Name>`

> Generated by `samber/cc-skills@copywriting-tone-of-voice-creator` on `<YYYY-MM-DD>`. Version `<x.y>`.
>
> This is a machine-readable brand voice contract. Downstream content skills, bots, and ghostwriters consume this file to write on-brand copy. Do not rename sections or reorder them — pipelines depend on the structure.

---

## Context

- **Brand:** `<name>`
- **Category:** `<B2B SaaS | B2C/D2C | NGO | Public Sector | Consulting | Industrial | Personal | Volunteering | Political | Other>`
- **Mission (1 line):** `<from SOUL.md if available, else short summary>`
- **Primary audience:** `<persona — role, context, JTBD>`
- **Secondary audiences (if relevant):** `<one line each>`
- **Market(s) and language(s):** `<e.g. en-US, en-GB, fr-FR>`
- **Reading-age target:** `<adult general | expert | age 9 (gov/inclusive) | mixed>`
- **Channels in scope:** `<web, blog, email, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, ...>`
- **Primary content goal:** `<demand gen | awareness | retention | recruiting | fundraising | advocacy>`
- **Risk tolerance:** `<safe | moderately distinctive | boldly distinctive>`
- **Regulatory constraints:** `<none | GDPR | HIPAA | FDA | SEC | FCA | ASA | other>`

---

## Voice Attributes

The brand's fixed personality. These do **not** change across channels — only tone modulates.

### 1. `<Attribute name>`

**Definition:** `<one line — what this attribute means in practice>`

**Sounds like:** `"<one example sentence in the voice>"`

**Does not sound like:** `"<one anti-example sentence — generic, off-brand, or category default>"`

**Do:**

- `<concrete behaviour 1>`
- `<concrete behaviour 2>`
- `<concrete behaviour 3>`

**Don't:**

- `<concrete behaviour 1>`
- `<concrete behaviour 2>`
- `<concrete behaviour 3>`

**Anti-example from past content (if applicable):**

> `"<actual sentence from prior brand content that violates this attribute>"`

### 2. `<Attribute name>`

`<repeat the same structure>`

### 3. `<Attribute name>`

`<repeat>`

`<3-5 attributes total — never fewer, never more>`

---

## Archetype

- **Primary:** `<one of: Innocent, Sage, Explorer, Outlaw/Rebel, Magician, Hero, Lover, Jester, Everyman, Caregiver, Ruler, Creator>`
- **Secondary (optional):** `<one of the same>`
- **Rationale:** `<one paragraph — why this archetype fits the brand strategy and audience>`

---

## NN/g 4 Dimensions Positioning

Each dimension is a 3-point scale: clearly-X / neutral / clearly-Y. Lean to one side on at least 3 of 4 — clustering all four at neutral produces a bland voice.

| Dimension | Position | Rationale |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Funny ↔ Serious | `<funny / leaning-funny / neutral / leaning-serious / serious>` | `<one line>` |
| Formal ↔ Casual | `<formal / leaning-formal / neutral / leaning-casual / casual>` | `<one line>` |
| Respectful ↔ Irreverent | `<respectful / leaning-respectful / neutral / leaning-irreverent / irreverent>` | `<one line>` |
| Enthusiastic ↔ Matter-of-fact | `<enthusiastic / leaning-enthusiastic / neutral / leaning-matter-of-fact / matter-of-fact>` | `<one line>` |

---

## Tone Modulation Matrix

How tone shifts by situation × channel. Each cell: **dominant tone** + 2-3 prohibited tones. This is the operational core — consult this matrix before writing in any situation/channel combination.

| Situation \ Channel | `<Channel 1>` | `<Channel 2>` | `<Channel 3>` | `<...>` |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Launch / win** | `<dominant>` <br>✗ `<prohibited>` | … | … | … |
| **Crisis / outage** | … | … | … | … |
| **Complaint (justified)** | … | … | … | … |
| **Complaint (unjustified or viral)** | … | … | … | … |
| **Sensitive societal topic** | … | … | … | … |
| **Bad news (price increase, sunset, layoffs)** | … | … | … | … |
| **Routine / informational** | … | … | … | … |
| **Sales objection** | … | … | … | … |
| **Apology** | … | … | … | … |
| **Recruitment** | … | … | … | … |

---

## Lexicon

### Preferred terms

Named concepts and nouns the brand uses consistently.

| Term     | Use for               | Don't confuse with         |
| -------- | --------------------- | -------------------------- |
| `<term>` | `<meaning / context>` | `<adjacent term to avoid>` |

### Banned terms

Words and phrases the brand never uses. Prevention is cheaper than prescription.

| Banned | Use instead | Reason |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `<word/phrase>` | `<replacement>` | `<jargon / cliché / exclusionary / category-default>` |

### Power words

10-30 words that consistently appear in best-performing copy.

- `<word 1>`
- `<word 2>`
- …

### Jargon policy

- **Allowed for:** `<which audience and channel — e.g. dev docs to technical audience>`
- **Prohibited for:** `<which audience and channel — e.g. marketing top-of-funnel, support comms>`
- **Always define on first use** when crossing audiences.

### Naming conventions

- **Brand name:** `<how to write it — capitalisation, punctuation>`
- **Product names:** `<rules>`
- **Feature names:** `<rules>`
- **Competitors:** `<how to refer to them, if at all>`
- **Customers / users:** `<the chosen noun — "members", "users", "customers", "readers", etc.>`

---

## Mechanics

| Decision | Rule |
| --- | --- |
| Person | `<1st plural "we" / 2nd "you" / 3rd>` |
| Contractions | `<yes / no / contextual>` |
| Oxford comma | `<yes / no>` |
| Sentence length (avg target) | `<e.g. 15-20 words for general public; 20-30 for expert>` |
| Active vs passive default | `<active; passive allowed for time-sensitive softening only>` |
| Sentence case vs title case | `<sentence case / title case>` |
| Emoji policy | `<allowed channels and which emojis>` |
| Punctuation tics | `<ellipses, em-dashes, exclamation marks — allowed? frequency cap?>` |
| Numerals | `<spell out under 10 / always-numeral / contextual>` |
| Dates | `<format, e.g. DD MMM YYYY for en-GB>` |
| Currencies | `<format, e.g. €1,234.56>` |

---

## Inclusive Language

- **Gendered language:** `<policy — e.g. avoid; use singular "they">`
- **Pronouns:** `<rule — e.g. use the person's preferred pronoun; if unknown, use their name>`
- **Ability / disability:** `<person-first / identity-first / per-community>`
- **Race and nationality:** `<rules per market>`
- **Age:** `<rules>`
- **Neurodiversity:** `<rules>`
- **Reference:** Conscious Style Guide (Karen Yin), APA Inclusive Language Guidelines.

---

## Channel-Specific Guidance

One subsection per channel in scope. Each subsection: hard constraints + tone shifts + 3 channel-specific do's + 3 don'ts.

### `<Channel 1>` (e.g. LinkedIn)

**Hard constraints:** `<character limits, format constraints, supported markdown>`

**Tonal shift from voice baseline:** `<e.g. dampen irreverence; lengthen sentences; structure as ABT>`

**Do:**

- `<concrete>`
- `<concrete>`
- `<concrete>`

**Don't:**

- `<concrete>`
- `<concrete>`
- `<concrete>`

**Example opening sentence in this channel:** `"<one sentence>"`

### `<Channel 2>`

`<repeat>`

`<repeat per channel in scope>`

---

## Global Do's and Don'ts

A scannable, consolidated list for writers and bots loading TONE.md into their context window. Cover the most decision-affecting items first.

### Do

1. `<concrete behaviour>`
2. `<concrete behaviour>`
3. `<concrete behaviour>`
4. `<concrete behaviour>`
5. `<concrete behaviour>`
6. `<concrete behaviour>`
7. `<concrete behaviour>`
8. `<concrete behaviour>`
9. `<concrete behaviour>`
10. `<concrete behaviour>`

### Don't

1. `<concrete behaviour>`
2. `<concrete behaviour>`
3. `<concrete behaviour>`
4. `<concrete behaviour>`
5. `<concrete behaviour>`
6. `<concrete behaviour>`
7. `<concrete behaviour>`
8. `<concrete behaviour>`
9. `<concrete behaviour>`
10. `<concrete behaviour>`

---

## Examples Library

Before/after pairs and full-artefact samples that downstream writers can pattern-match against. More examples beat more rules.

### Before / After

**1. `<context — e.g. error message>`**

Before (off-brand):

> `"<actual or representative sentence>"`

After (on-brand):

> `"<rewritten sentence>"`

Why: `<one line — which attribute and which rule>`

**2. `<context>`**

`<repeat>`

### Full-artefact samples (optional)

- `<link or embedded sample — e.g. a complete email, a complete LinkedIn post, a complete error-message flow>`

---

## Provenance

- **Generated from:** `<SOUL.md path if used, else "Discovery interview only">`
- **Researcher notes:** `<paths or links to Phase 2 research output, if Phase 2 ran>`
- **Sources cited:** `<list any external references used>`
- **Owner:** `<name / team responsible for this TONE.md>`
- **Change cadence:** `<quarterly audit / annual refresh / 2-3 year strategic review>`
- **Next review:** `<YYYY-MM-DD>`