Voice Rules per Audience
Audience-specific voice rules that extend universal copy rules. Feeds Pass A Phase 5 (voice check) and Pass B frontmatter tone calibration. Universal rules always apply first. Audience rules extend them but do not override a universal blocking rule. Full specification:workspace/plan/active/CONTENT-WRITING/Prompts/voice-rules.md
Universal Rules (all audiences)
Banned words (remove, do not soften):effectively, essentially, basically, meaningful, significant, real (as intensifier), various, several, obviously, clearly
Banned phrases:
“This section covers” | “This page covers / explains / walks you through” | “Understanding X is essential” | “It is important to note” | “As mentioned above” | “and so on” / “etc.” | “rather than” | “what it takes” | “it should be noted” | “not just X” | “can generate” / “may produce” in value claims
Banned constructions:
not [X] in value statements (state positive) | if [condition] in body prose (resolve the condition) | This page [verb] (delete self-reference) | can/may [verb] in value claims (assert directly)
Opening order:
Value or outcome before mechanism. Fact before caveat. Reader benefit before system description.
Paragraph discipline:
One paragraph, one job. Lead sentence states the fact. Final sentence ends on fact, number, or next step.
Language: UK English throughout.
Per-Audience Voice Summary
Full per-audience rules with prohibited phrases, register descriptions, and examples: see the source specification.
UK English Corrections
Heading Rules
- No questions in headings
- No em dashes anywhere
- Lead with fact, end with fact
- Section headings describe the content, not the reader’s journey