# [Your Site/Brand] — Voice & Vocabulary Rules

> Fill in every bracketed placeholder below, delete rows you don't need, then delete this note.
> Once it's filled in, paste the "Build a Claude Skill from this doc" prompt (from the
> `voice-rules` recipe at exitvelocities.com) into a Claude session along with this file — it'll
> generate a ready-to-install SKILL.md from what you wrote here.
>
> Severity: mark every rule **CRITICAL** (never broken) or **PREFERRED** (default, breakable with
> a stated reason).

## Vocabulary

| Approved | Forbidden | Audience *(optional)* | Severity | Notes |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| [approved term] | [forbidden synonym(s)] | [where this applies, or —] | [CRITICAL/PREFERRED] | [why this term, not the others] |
| [approved term] | [forbidden synonym(s)] | [where this applies, or —] | [CRITICAL/PREFERRED] | [why this term, not the others] |

*Audience is optional — drop the column entirely if every rule applies sitewide; keep it only for
rules scoped to part of your site.*

## Style

### Off-brand — never do this (CRITICAL)

| Rule | Guidance | Watch for |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| [behavior to ban outright] | [why it's off-brand and what to do instead] | [trigger words/phrases, or —] |

### Avoid — defaults to break, not absolute bans (PREFERRED)

| Rule | Guidance | Watch for |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| [pattern to avoid by default] | [what to do instead] | [trigger words/phrases] |

### Patterns — watch the cadence, none are hard bans (PREFERRED)

| Rule | Guidance |
| :--- | :--- |
| [sentence-shape or cadence tic to monitor] | [when it's fine vs. when it's become a tic] |

### Tone principles (PREFERRED)

| Principle | Guidance |
| :--- | :--- |
| [tone principle] | [what it means in practice] |