Module 50 — Voice & Tone

Frameworks: Brand voice spectrum (formal <-> casual, serious <-> playful, distant <-> warm, conventional <-> irreverent) · Content-type tone matrix

Goal: Codify the brand's verbal register precisely enough that two different writers produce copy that sounds like the same person. Voice is constant; tone shifts by context (home page vs. error message vs. proposal cover).

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Raw

<!-- Verbatim quotes and examples from the interview. Collect actual copy samples the founder likes or hates. -->

Copy the founder admires (from their own brand or others) — include the source

Copy the founder dislikes or finds "wrong register" — what specifically is wrong?

Words or phrases the brand uses all the time (even informally)

Words or phrases the brand actively avoids

How should the brand sound on: a sales page? an error message? a proposal?

"We always…" / "We never…" statements about how the brand communicates

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Synthesis

Voice spectrum (mark the brand's position on each axis)

Axis	1	2	3	4	5	Notes
Formal ←→ Casual
Serious ←→ Playful
Distant ←→ Warm
Conventional ←→ Irreverent
Minimal ←→ Expressive

Voice statement (one paragraph a writer can internalise)

Tone matrix by content type

Content type	Tone shift	Example phrase
Homepage headline
Case study / evidence
Proposal / commercial
Error / apology
Social / informal

The three things to check every draft against

3. Open questions / tensions with Module 40 Personality