2.4 Style Guides & Voice

Time: ~20 minutes

What You'll Learn

• What a personal style guide is and why it matters
• How to capture your writing voice in a format AI can use
• The key elements: vocabulary, sentence patterns, tone defaults, and no-go zones
• How to iterate on your style guide over time

Key Concepts

The Problem with Generic AI Output

AI writes in a default voice: formal, hedging, verbose. It says "I hope this email finds you well" and "please don't hesitate to reach out." It uses words you'd never use. The result is technically correct but doesn't sound like you.

A personal style guide fixes this by telling AI how you write.

What Goes in a Style Guide

A good personal style guide captures four things:

1. Vocabulary preferences -- Words you use ("folks" vs. "team" vs. "colleagues"), phrases you avoid ("synergy," "leverage," "circle back")
2. Sentence patterns -- Short and punchy? Long and flowing? Mix of both? How do you start emails?
3. Tone defaults -- Your natural formality level, how direct you are, whether you use humor
4. No-go zones -- Things AI should never do in your voice (emoji in client emails, exclamation points in reports, passive voice)

Building Your Style Guide

Claude will analyze samples of your actual writing to identify your patterns. Then you'll refine those observations into a style guide document you can include in any future AI writing session.

The style guide is a living document. It gets better every time you notice AI doing something that doesn't sound like you and add a rule.

How to Start

start lesson 2.4

Skills You'll Use Later

• Your style guide (used in every AI writing interaction from now on)
• Voice awareness (makes the real work session in 2.5 more effective)
• Iteration habits (your style guide improves with use)