Content Style Guide

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Create a brand style guide for written content (grammar, tone, formatting)
• Standardize how your business communicates across all written channels
• Onboard new writers or team members with clear editorial rules
• Document word preferences, banned phrases, and formatting conventions

DO NOT use this skill for visual brand guidelines (logos, colors, typography). This is for editorial and written content rules only.

Core Principle

A STYLE GUIDE MUST BE SHORT ENOUGH TO REFERENCE IN 5 MINUTES AND SPECIFIC ENOUGH TO RESOLVE ANY WRITING QUESTION WITHOUT A MEETING.

Phase 1: Brief

Required Inputs

GATE: Confirm brief before building the guide.

Phase 2: Outline

Style Guide Sections

1. Brand Voice & Tone
2. Grammar & Punctuation Preferences
3. Formatting Rules
4. Word List (preferred terms & banned phrases)
5. Channel-Specific Guidelines
6. Common Mistakes to Avoid

GATE: Approve section structure before writing.

Phase 3: Write

1. Brand Voice & Tone

## Brand Voice

**We sound like:** [Concrete description — e.g., "A smart friend who runs a business"]
**We do NOT sound like:** [Concrete anti-example — e.g., "A corporate press release"]

### Voice Traits

| Trait | Description | Example | Anti-Example |
|-------|-------------|---------|-------------|
| [e.g., Direct] | [Get to the point fast] | "Here's how to fix it." | "In this section, we will explore potential solutions." |
| [e.g., Confident] | [State opinions, don't hedge] | "This is the best approach." | "This could potentially be worth considering." |
| [e.g., Conversational] | [Write like you talk] | "Let's break this down." | "The following analysis will demonstrate..." |

### Tone Adjustments by Context

| Context | Tone Shift |
|---------|-----------|
| Blog posts | Most casual — personality shines through |
| Emails | Warm and direct — like writing to a colleague |
| Social media | Punchy and concise — hook fast |
| Customer support | Empathetic and clear — solve the problem |
| Legal / policies | Professional and precise — no ambiguity |

2. Grammar & Punctuation

## Grammar Preferences

| Rule | Preference |
|------|-----------|
| Oxford comma | [Yes / No] |
| Contractions | [Use freely / Avoid / Context-dependent] |
| Sentence fragments | [Allowed in casual content / Never] |
| Em dashes | [Use for emphasis / Avoid] |
| Exclamation points | [Max 1 per piece / Never / Sparingly] |
| Numbers | [Spell out 1-9, digits for 10+ / Always digits] |
| Percent | [% symbol / "percent" spelled out] |
| Ampersands | [Never in body text / OK in headings] |
| Ellipses | [Avoid / OK in casual content] |

3. Formatting Rules

## Formatting

| Element | Rule |
|---------|------|
| Headings | Sentence case ("How to write a pitch") not title case |
| Bold | Use for key phrases readers should not miss |
| Italic | Use for emphasis or introducing new terms |
| Lists | Bullet points for unordered, numbers for sequential |
| Paragraphs | 2-4 sentences max |
| Links | Descriptive anchor text, never "click here" |
| CTAs | Bold, action-oriented, one per section |

4. Word List

## Word List

### Preferred Terms
| Use This | Not This |
|----------|---------|
| [e.g., "solopreneur"] | [e.g., "sole proprietor"] |
| [e.g., "revenue"] | [e.g., "income" or "earnings"] |
| [e.g., "customers"] | [e.g., "users" or "consumers"] |

### Banned Phrases
- "In today's world..."
- "It goes without saying..."
- "At the end of the day..."
- "Leverage" (as a verb)
- "Synergy" / "synergize"
- "Touch base"
- "Circle back"
- [User-specific additions]

### Industry Jargon Rules
- Define technical terms on first use
- Never assume the reader knows acronyms — spell out on first reference
- [Specific jargon allowances for this brand]

5. Channel-Specific Guidelines

## Channel Guidelines

### Blog
- Target: [word count range]
- Always include: meta description, internal links, featured image brief
- Heading hierarchy: H1 > H2 > H3 (never skip levels)

### Email
- Subject lines: under 50 characters
- Body: under 300 words for promotional, under 800 for newsletter
- Always include: preview text, one CTA, P.S. line

### Social Media
- Platform-specific character guidance
- Hashtag rules per platform
- Link placement rules

6. Common Mistakes

## Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. **Passive voice** — "The report was written by the team" → "The team wrote the report"
2. **Hedging language** — "We think this might help" → "This will help"
3. **Redundant phrases** — "Free gift" (gifts are free), "End result" (results are at the end)
4. **Nominalizations** — "Make a decision" → "Decide"
5. **Starting with "I think"** — Just state the opinion

Phase 4: Polish

1. Style Guide Checklist

## Style Guide Checklist

- [ ] Voice description includes concrete examples and anti-examples
- [ ] Grammar preferences cover the 10 most common questions
- [ ] Formatting rules are specific and actionable
- [ ] Word list includes both preferred terms and banned phrases
- [ ] Channel-specific guidelines are included for each active platform
- [ ] Common mistakes section addresses real issues (not generic advice)
- [ ] Guide is under 5 pages (reference-friendly, not a textbook)
- [ ] At least 3 "Example vs Anti-Example" comparisons throughout

2. Quick Reference Card

Create a one-page summary of the most important rules for fast reference.

Example: Style Guide for a SaaS Startup

Voice: Confident mentor — we've done this and want to help you do it too
Not: Corporate PR team reading a script

Preferred: "Start your free trial" Not: "Begin your complimentary trial period"
Preferred: "dashboard" Not: "user interface" or "control panel"

Oxford comma: Yes
Contractions: Always in blog/social, avoid in legal docs
Numbers: Digits always (even 1-9) for scannability

Anti-Patterns

• Too long — a 30-page style guide will never be read. Keep it under 5 pages.
• Too vague — "Be professional but friendly" is useless without examples. Show, don't just tell.
• No examples — every rule needs a "do this / not this" pair or it will be interpreted differently by every writer.
• Outdated references — style guides need annual reviews. Flag the review date.
• Ignoring channel differences — the same tone does not work on TikTok and in legal contracts. Address channel shifts.

Recovery

• No existing content to reference: Write 3 sample paragraphs in different tones. Have the user pick the closest match and build the guide from that.
• Too many stakeholders with opinions: Focus on the 10 rules that cause 90% of inconsistencies. Defer edge cases to the editor's judgment.
• Guide is getting too long: Cut anything that duplicates AP or Chicago style. Only document deviations from standard practice and brand-specific rules.
• Writer keeps ignoring the guide: Add the top 5 rules to a pre-publish checklist. Make it a gate, not a suggestion.