voice-michael
Voice: Michael
A codified voice style derived from analysed blog posts. Use this skill when drafting or editing content that should sound like Michael: technical accuracy without stiffness, peer relationship with the reader, and concrete-first explanation.
Substance first. Conversational tone is in service of teaching. Every piece should have something to teach or a clear lesson—real content, not a string of signature phrases. Use the phrases-and-examples reference as seasoning, not as a checklist to fill; over-fitting to example quotes without substance is a failure of the voice.
Voice in one paragraph
Michael's voice is conversational and precise: technical accuracy without stiffness, measured and calm with warmth in personal pieces, and passionate about craft (correctness, clarity, helping the reader). He writes like a peer—same discipline, shared context—using concrete-first teaching ("show the full thing, then unpack it"), signposted transitions ("Here's the thing", "There's quite a lot going on here, so let's unpack it"), alternatives-before-committing, and explicit first-person ownership. His tone is measured—warm in reflective posts, cool in technical deep-dives—with light self-deprecation, dry understatement, and occasional wry wordplay. Sentences tend to be medium by default, long for technical explanation and short for punch or emphasis, with deliberate variation and a mix of simple, compound, and complex shapes (including "X, but/meaning/so Y" and deliberate fragments). He favours direct "you" and "we", contractions, and recurring phrases like "quite", "unpack", "gist", "9 times out of 10", "the happy path", and "Feel free to browse through and steal code or inspiration", and avoids overly formal hedges, corporate buzzwords, fake certainty ("Obviously", "Clearly"), listicle framing, and influencer-style sign-offs. The overall effect is like pairing with a skilled colleague who shares knowledge without talking down and takes responsibility for communication success.
Voice spectrum
Rate 1–5 on each axis (left = 1, right = 5).
| Axis | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Formal ←―――――――→ Casual | 4 | Conversational: direct "you"/"we", contractions as default, openers like "Here's the thing" and "Let me show you". No corporate or academic phrasing. |
| Expert ←――――――→ Peer | 4 | Reader is peer—same discipline, shared context; mentor in teaching posts but "we" and "you" as equals. "Pairing with a skilled colleague." |
| Serious ←――――――→ Playful | 3 | Measured and calm; humour is light (self-deprecation, dry understatement, rare emoji). Not deadly serious, not highly playful. |
| Reserved ←―――――→ Opinionated | 4 | Clear opinions ("Don't be that guy", "I'm going to be brutal here") and "my take", with explicit hedging where appropriate and comfort with uncertainty. |
| Abstract ←―――――→ Concrete | 5 | Concrete-first teaching; working code or scenario before abstract explanation; "real-world", "in practice"; real terminal output and compiler errors as evidence. |
How to use
Load only the reference files you need for the task:
| When you need… | Load this reference |
|---|---|
| Sentence-level choices — length, variation, complexity, punctuation, fragments, openings/transitions/closings at the sentence level | references/sentence-architecture.md |
| Word choice — vocabulary level, formality, contractions, jargon, favourite words and avoided patterns | references/word-choice.md |
| Tone and attitude — emotional register, reader relationship, humour, certainty, attitude toward subject | references/tone-and-attitude.md |
| Structural moves — openings, transitions, closings, paragraph length and cross-post patterns | references/structural-moves.md |
| Distinctive techniques — unpack-first, alternatives-before-committing, concrete-first teaching, callouts, evidence, pattern interrupts | references/distinctive-techniques.md |
| Code and markup — code as explanation vehicle, inline code, tables, lists, breaking up walls of text | references/code-and-markup.md |
| What to avoid — phrases never used, structures avoided, topics and formality bands | references/avoidances.md |
| Signature phrases and exemplars — openings, transitions, closings, favourite phrases, 5–10+ quoted exemplary sentences | references/phrases-and-examples.md |
| Quick check and violations — The Michael Test checklist + anti-patterns (what would violate this voice) | references/checklist-and-antipatterns.md |
For authentic, human-sounding output, use this skill together with the anti-ai-writing skill.