Name Your Brand Voice
Define a brand voice you can reuse in every sentence.
A brand voice gives your words a job before you pick visuals. This Cookbook helps you name who you serve, what you stand for, how you sound, what to avoid, and how that voice shows up in sample lines. Enter only facts you already know about the offer and audience; every step is told not to invent logos, services, prices, or customer research.
- Made for
- Solopreneurs and small teams who need a clear voice before designing visuals
- You leave with
- audience notes, promise, voice traits, do/don't examples, sample lines, and a one-page brand voice brief
- Time
- about 30 minutes
- Steps
- 7 guided steps
- Requires
- any AI you already use (a free chat account is usually enough); sample answers included where available
- Completed runs
- 267 (demo metric)
- Average rating
- 4.8 / 5 (demo metric)
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Stages
3 stages in sequence-
12 steps
Audience
Who you serve and what you stand for.
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23 steps
Voice
Traits, examples, sample lines.
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32 steps
Brief
Visual notes and one-pager.
Workflow steps
7 steps · completed in orderStage 1: Audience
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1
Name who you serve
Turn your audience notes into a plain snapshot, needs, exclusions, and unknowns.
Voice gets vague when it tries to charm everyone. This step names the audience in everyday words so later lines can be useful instead of generic. Common mistakes: inventing demographics, writing a fictional persona, or making the audience too broad. Need help if the AI guesses research? Retry and ask it to mark missing facts as unknown. You are ready when the audience sounds like real people you can serve.
- Audience uses known facts No invented demographics, quotes, or market research appear.
- Needs are practical The needs point to copy the brand can actually write.
- Not-for line narrows focus The voice has a clear edge without insulting anyone.
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2
Name what you stand for
Write the plain offer, promise, proof points, boundaries, and voice risk.
A voice needs something to stand on besides adjectives. This step turns the offer into a promise the brand can keep. Common mistakes: promising outcomes not supplied, making the brand sound bigger than it is, or hiding what is still undecided. Need help if the promise overreaches? Retry with "only promise what the offer proves." You are ready when the promise feels useful and believable.
- Promise is believable The promise follows from the offer, not wishful claims.
- Boundaries prevent invention Services, prices, and guarantees are not added without facts.
- Risk is useful The risk would help someone avoid the wrong tone.
Stage 2: Voice
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3
Pick voice traits
Choose traits, define what they mean, and build word lists to guide writing.
Adjectives only help when everyone knows what they mean in sentences. This step turns preferred words into usable writing decisions. Common mistakes: picking too many traits, choosing traits that fight each other, or ignoring words to avoid. Need help if traits sound generic? Retry and ask for trait meanings tied to the approved promise. You are ready when each trait changes what you would write.
- Exactly three traits The list is focused enough for a small team to remember.
- Meanings guide writing Each trait explains what changes in the copy.
- Avoid list is visible The voice includes words or tones to keep out.
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4
Write do and don't examples
Make the voice concrete with examples, anti-examples, rewrite rules, and guardrails.
People learn voice faster from examples than from labels. This step shows what to say and what to avoid before the brand writes public copy. Common mistakes: making examples too clever, using shame or hype, or inventing services inside sample sentences. Need help if examples drift? Retry with "only use known offer facts." You are ready when a teammate can spot an off-brand line.
- Do examples fit the offer Each line could appear for the real brand as described.
- Do-not examples catch risk The bad examples show tones or claims to avoid.
- Rules are reusable Rewrite rules can guide future copy beyond these examples.
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5
Write sample lines
Draft reusable sample lines for the places where the voice will show up.
Voice becomes real when it survives actual sentences. This step creates starter copy for common touchpoints without pretending every channel is already designed. Common mistakes: adding channels you did not list, promising service details you did not provide, or writing lines too polished to use. Need help if lines sound generic? Retry and ask for simple lines tied to the do examples. You are ready when you can paste at least one line into real copy.
- Lines match real touchpoints The samples fit places where the voice will actually show up.
- No new service claims The samples do not invent prices, locations, speed, or offerings.
- Voice traits are audible The sample lines sound like the approved traits.
Stage 3: Brief
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6
Note visual cues
Capture factual visual direction without inventing logos, files, or finished design assets.
Voice can guide visuals, but it should not fake design decisions that have not been made. This step translates the voice into gentle cues while keeping unknown assets unknown. Common mistakes: inventing a logo, naming exact fonts, or pretending photos exist. Need help if the output designs too much? Retry with "facts only; list undecided assets." You are ready when the notes help a designer without becoming a fake brand kit.
- Visuals stay factual The notes do not invent finished logos, files, fonts, or photos.
- Cues support the voice The visual feeling follows from the approved traits.
- Design decisions remain open Unknown brand-kit choices are clearly listed as not decided.
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7
Pack the voice one-pager
Assemble the audience, promise, traits, examples, sample lines, and visual notes into one brief.
A voice guide only works if people can find and use it. This step compresses the approved pieces into a one-page brief for writing, reviewing, and sharing. Common mistakes: adding new claims at the end, dropping the avoid list, or turning visual notes into fake finished assets. Need help if the one-pager grows? Retry and ask for one concise brief using approved artifacts only. You are ready when the brief can guide the next piece of copy.
- Brief is one-page usable The summary is compact enough to share before writing copy.
- Examples are preserved The one-pager keeps both do and do-not guidance.
- Visual notes do not fake assets The final notes keep logos, colors, and assets undecided unless known.
Your information
6 details, answered once- Brand name Use the exact name you want in the brief.
- What do you offer? Products or services in plain words. Known facts only.
- Who do you serve? Name the people you most want to help. Avoid imaginary personas.
- Three words you want the voice to feel like Three plain adjectives or qualities.
- Three words you want to avoid Words or qualities that should not fit the voice.
- Where will this voice show up? Website, bio, emails, signs, packaging, ads. List only real places you expect to write.
Finished files
What you export when every step is approved
One Markdown file per approved step, plus kit.html (opens in any browser, offline)
and a README of what you approved.
kit.htmlOffline HTML reader for every approved step01-name-who-you-serve.mdName who you serve02-name-what-you-stand-for.mdName what you stand for03-pick-voice-traits.mdPick voice traits04-write-do-and-dont.mdWrite do and don't examples05-write-sample-lines.mdWrite sample lines06-note-visual-cues.mdNote visual cues07-pack-voice-one-pager.mdPack the voice one-pagerREADME.mdManifest of what you approved