Voice and Tone

Voice is who you are. Tone is how you say it right now. Voice stays constant. Tone adapts to context. This skill defines both so every word sounds like the same person wrote it.

When to Use

• At the start of a project, during or after design-strategy
• When the content-writer agent needs voice guardrails
• When interface copy sounds inconsistent across screens

Step 1: Define Voice Attributes

Choose 3-5. For each, define "this, not that":

Attribute	This	Not that
Warm	Friendly, approachable	Sycophantic, emoji-heavy
Knowledgeable	Confident, precise	Academic, condescending
Direct	Clear, action-oriented	Blunt, cold, robotic
Encouraging	Celebrates effort	Patronising, fake-cheerful

The "not that" column prevents drift.

Step 2: Define Tone by Context

Context	Feel	Example
Success	Celebration, warmth	"Your monstera is happy. Next water Thursday."
Error	Calm, helpful, no blame	"We couldn't save that. Check your connection and try again."
Onboarding	Welcoming, confidence-building	"Let's get to know your plants. About 30 seconds."
Empty state	Inviting, action-oriented	"Your windowsill is empty. Add your first plant."
Loading	Reassuring, brief	"Checking your plants..."
Destructive	Clear, calm, reversible	"Remove this plant? You can undo this."

Step 3: Build the Vocabulary

Always use	Never use
water	irrigate
happy	optimal
check it out	investigate
you	the user

The content-writer agent uses this as a constraint.

Step 4: Set Reading Level

Audience	Target
General consumer	Grade 6-8
Professional tool	Grade 8-10
Technical docs	Grade 10-12

Voice Audit Checklist

• Every screen sounds like the same person wrote it
• Voice attributes are present in the copy
• Tone matches the context
• Vocabulary list words used consistently
• Reading level at or below target
• Copy works read aloud by a screen reader

What You Deliver

• Voice attributes table (3-5, with "this not that")
• Tone guide by context with examples
• Vocabulary list
• Reading level target
• 3-5 before/after examples

Integration

• Informed by: design-strategy, design-discovery
• Feeds into: content-writer agent, accessible-content, design-critic