Free Framework
Teach AI to write in your voice, not its own
A brand voice guide teaches AI HOW you communicate — your tone, your patterns, your personality. This page gives you the 25 questions that define your voice, a copy-paste prompt that extracts it from your own best content, and a full template to save the result. No email required for any of it.
What a brand voice guide is
A brand voice guide teaches AI HOW you communicate — your tone, your patterns, your personality. It's different from a knowledge base, which tells AI WHAT you talk about.
- Knowledge base = WHAT (topics, frameworks, stories)
- Brand voice guide = HOW (tone, phrases, style)
Without a brand voice guide, AI outputs will sound generic, even with a perfect knowledge base. The voice guide is what makes content sound like YOU.
How to create yours
Don't try to describe your voice from scratch. That's really hard. Instead, let AI analyze your best content and extract your voice patterns for you. Four steps.
Step 1: Gather 15-30 pieces of your best content
Select content that:
- You're proud of
- Got good engagement
- Sounds most "like you"
- Represents different formats (posts, newsletters, scripts)
Step 2: Run the analysis prompt
Attach the content you gathered and paste the prompt in the next section. It pulls out your tone, signature phrases, sentence rhythm, how you open, teach, and close, and the stories you keep coming back to.
Step 3: Review and customize
The AI will generate a first draft. Review it and:
- Verify the patterns feel accurate
- Add any phrases or patterns it missed
- Expand the "avoid" list based on what you've seen in bad AI outputs
- Add specific examples where helpful
Step 4: Save and use
Save it as [YOUR-NAME]-BRAND-VOICE-GUIDE.md and include the file whenever you ask AI to create content.
The analysis prompt
Copy this, swap in what you're attaching, and run it against your 15-30 pieces.
Analysis prompt
I want you to analyze my content and create a comprehensive brand voice guide.
I'm attaching [X] pieces of my best content including:
- [List what you're attaching]
Please analyze all of this content and extract:
## VOICE & TONE
1. **Overall Tone** (3-5 adjectives that describe how I sound)
- What's the vibe of my content?
- Am I formal or casual? Direct or gentle? Serious or playful?
2. **My Relationship to the Audience**
- Do I sound like a teacher? A friend? A coach? A peer?
- What's the dynamic between me and my audience?
## LANGUAGE PATTERNS
3. **Signature Phrases I Use**
- Opening hooks I use repeatedly
- Transition phrases
- Teaching phrases
- Closing phrases
- Calls to action
4. **Phrases I Avoid**
- Corporate jargon I never use
- Clichés I stay away from
- AI-sounding phrases I avoid
- Words that don't fit my brand
## WRITING STYLE
5. **Sentence Style**
- Average sentence length
- Do I use fragments? Simple or complex sentences?
- How do I create rhythm?
6. **Paragraph Style**
- Typical paragraph length
- How much white space?
- How do I use formatting (bullets, headers, etc.)?
## CONTENT PATTERNS
7. **How I Open Content**
- What types of hooks do I use?
- Do I start with questions? Bold claims? Stories?
8. **How I Teach/Explain**
- Do I use examples? Metaphors? Before/after comparisons?
- How do I break down complex ideas?
9. **How I Close Content**
- How do I wrap things up?
- What calls to action do I use?
## STORY ELEMENTS
10. **Recurring Stories and References**
- What personal stories do I tell often?
- What characters appear in my content? (family, colleagues, clients)
- What examples or case studies do I reference?
Format this as a clean markdown document that I can use as a reference file for AI-assisted content creation.
Include specific examples from my content to illustrate each pattern. Get a new build-with-AI guide every week
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The 25 questions that define your voice
Use these questions to either guide the AI analysis or fill in manually:
Tone questions
- If your content were a person, how would you describe their personality in 3 words?
- Are you more formal or casual? (Scale 1-10, where 1 = very formal, 10 = very casual)
- Are you more direct or gentle? (Scale 1-10)
- Do you use humor? What kind? (Dry, self-deprecating, observational, none)
- What’s your relationship to your audience? (Teacher, coach, peer, friend, expert)
Language questions
- What are 5 phrases you find yourself using repeatedly?
- What transition words do you use? ("Here’s the thing," "Here’s why," etc.)
- What words do you NEVER use? (Corporate jargon, clichés, etc.)
- Do you curse? How often? What words?
- Do you use emojis? When and how?
Structure questions
- How long are your typical sentences? (Short/punchy, medium, long/flowing)
- Do you use sentence fragments for effect?
- How long are your paragraphs? (1-2 sentences, 3-4, 5+)
- How do you use formatting? (Headers, bullets, bold, etc.)
- Do you use numbered lists or bullet points more?
Opening questions
- How do you typically start content? (Question, bold claim, story, statistic)
- What are 3 opening hooks you’ve used that worked well?
- Do you introduce yourself or get straight to the content?
- How long is your typical intro before the main content?
Teaching questions
- How do you explain complex ideas? (Metaphors, examples, step-by-step)
- Do you use before/after comparisons?
- Do you use stories to illustrate points?
- How do you make content actionable?
Closing questions
- How do you typically end content?
- What calls to action do you use?
The full template
This is the finished shape your guide should take. Copy it, fill in the brackets with what the analysis prompt and the 25 questions surfaced, and save it as a markdown file.
Voice guide template
# [Your Name/Brand] Brand Voice Guide ## For AI-Assisted Content Creation **Last Updated:** [Date] --- ## VOICE & TONE ### Overall Tone: [2-3 Word Description] I sound like [describe the vibe]. My content is: - **[Adjective 1]** - [brief explanation] - **[Adjective 2]** - [brief explanation] - **[Adjective 3]** - [brief explanation] ### Relationship to Audience [Teacher/Coach/Peer/Friend/Expert] - [Explain the dynamic] ### Key Difference from Others in My Space [What makes your voice unique compared to competitors] --- ## SIGNATURE PHRASES ### Phrases I USE: **Opening Hooks:** - "[Phrase]" - "[Phrase]" - "[Phrase]" **Transitions:** - "[Phrase]" - "[Phrase]" - "[Phrase]" **Teaching Moments:** - "[Phrase]" - "[Phrase]" **Calls to Action:** - "[Phrase]" - "[Phrase]" **Closing Lines:** - "[Phrase]" - "[Phrase]" ### Phrases I AVOID: **Generic/Corporate:** - "[Phrase]" - Why: [reason] - "[Phrase]" - Why: [reason] **Overused/Cliché:** - "[Phrase]" - "[Phrase]" **AI-Sounding:** - "[Phrase]" - "[Phrase]" **Too Formal:** - "[Phrase]" - "[Phrase]" --- ## WRITING STYLE ### Sentence Style - **Length:** [Short/Medium/Long - be specific] - **Fragments:** [Yes/No - when?] - **Rhythm:** [How do you create flow?] **Example of my sentence style:** > [Paste an actual example from your content] ### Paragraph Style - **Length:** [X sentences typically] - **White space:** [Heavy/Moderate/Minimal] - **Formatting:** [How you use headers, bullets, bold] --- ## CONTENT STRUCTURE ### How I Open Content [Describe your typical opening pattern] **Example openings I've used:** > "[Example 1]" > "[Example 2]" ### How I Teach/Explain [Describe your approach - examples, metaphors, step-by-step, etc.] ### How I Close Content [Describe your typical closing pattern] --- ## STORY ELEMENTS ### Recurring Characters - **[Name]** - [Who they are, when I reference them] - **[Name]** - [Who they are, when I reference them] ### Signature Stories - **[Story name]** - [Brief description, when I use it] - **[Story name]** - [Brief description, when I use it] --- ## QUICK REFERENCE CHECKLIST Before publishing, verify content: - [ ] [Checkpoint 1] - [ ] [Checkpoint 2] - [ ] [Checkpoint 3] - [ ] [Checkpoint 4] - [ ] Sounds like me talking, not an AI writing --- ## EXAMPLE: APPLYING THE VOICE ### BAD (Generic AI Output): "[Example of what NOT to do]" ### GOOD (My Voice): "[Example of what content should sound like]" --- ## HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE **For AI Prompts:** Include this guide when generating content. Say: "Reference my brand voice guide to match my tone and style." **For Reviewing Output:** Use the checklist to verify AI output matches your voice. If it uses forbidden phrases or sounds too formal, regenerate. --- *Update this guide as your voice evolves and new patterns emerge.*
Common voice guide mistakes
- Being too vague — "I sound professional" doesn't help AI. Be specific.
- Forgetting the "avoid" list — This is often more useful than what you DO use.
- Not including examples — Show, don't just describe.
- Making it too long — Keep it scannable. AI needs reference, not a novel.
- Not updating it — Your voice evolves. Update quarterly.